Kennametal · Industrial TechnologyEmployee Recognition

Kennametal's journey to building a global unified rewards strategy

How a 75-year-old industrial technology leader turned a fragmented, multi-region recognition program into a single, locally relevant rewards experience across five continents.

Company profile

Industry
Industrial Technology
Experience
75+ years
Geography
20+ countries, five continents
Use case
Employee rewards & recognition
Integration
SAP SuccessFactors (SSO)
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Capabilities used

Rewards Platform

Xoxoday Plum

White-labeled rewards marketplace powering Kennametal's global employee recognition program - with multi-currency denominations, multi-lingual interfaces, and a region-curated reward catalog.

HCM Integration

SAP SuccessFactors (SSO)

Single sign-on integration with Kennametal's core HCM platform - employees move from recognition moment to reward redemption in a single click, with no separate logins.

The challenge

Making recognition meaningful across five continents

Kennametal is a global industrial technology leader with roughly 8,600 employees spread across five continents. Recognition mattered to the business, but running a single, meaningful program at that scale came with real friction - a reward that feels special in Pittsburgh does not translate to a technician in Shanghai or a procurement lead in Bengaluru.

  • Localization at a real-world level - regional relevance was missing - a generic global gift card doesn't feel special in every market
  • Integration with the system of record - Kennametal runs on SAP SuccessFactors - separate logins or manual reconciliation would create friction for both employees and administrators
  • A redemption experience that actually worked - a clunky redemption process creates frustration instead of engagement

The solution

One platform, configured globally - choice delivered locally

Kennametal chose Xoxoday Plum as the redemption layer for its global rewards and recognition program, integrated directly with SAP SuccessFactors. The storefront was tailored to the company's culture - translated interfaces, local-currency denominations, and a region-specific catalog - while keeping governance, branding, and reporting centralized.

  • Single sign-on into SAP SuccessFactors - employees move from recognition to redemption in a single click - no new credentials, no separate interface
  • One storefront, configured globally - a unified admin experience with regional configuration baked in - languages, currencies, and catalog curation tailored to each market
  • Choice, delivered locally - every employee sees rewards relevant to their daily life - local supermarkets, dining chains, fashion brands, and regional e-commerce marketplaces
  • Real-time visibility - a single admin dashboard for every redemption across every currency

The results

Global reach, genuinely local redemption

Employees kept coming back - the catalog was worth returning to. When they did return, they were choosing locally relevant brands in their home currencies, from supermarkets in Poland and pharmacies in Brazil to e-commerce marketplaces in China and dining chains in India.

Kennametal achieved all of this without adding a single full-time role to the HR team. The SAP SuccessFactors integration removed the reconciliation overhead that typically comes with a program this size.

45%

Repeat engagement rate - nearly half of all employees returned to redeem more than once

26

Local currencies redeemed in, across 20+ countries

98%

Fulfillment rate across 9,700+ redemption events

“
You can build a fancy program on awarding employees and saying thank you, but in the end, the redemption process must be really useful, easy, and user-friendly to your employees. Otherwise, it creates more frustration than it helps with engagement. Xoxoday served the purpose just right.
AB

Andreas Bauerlein

HRIS Manager · Kennametal