Deputy’s Path to Scalable, Company-Wide Recognition

At Deputy, a global workforce management platform, employees span continents—from the U.S. and the U.K. to Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam. 

But despite the distance, one thing brings them together: tacos. Virtual tacos, anyway. Deputy uses HeyTaco for daily appreciation. In the process, they’ve unlocked the secret to building a strong global community remotely–ritualized gratitude. 

Bridging the gaps in recognition

Luis, a Senior Software Engineering Manager, was the first to notice a gap at Deputy. “There were ways to celebrate big achievements,” he said, “but nothing for the small, everyday wins. I wanted to tell everyone how amazing my team was, but there wasn’t a simple way to do that.”

He had experimented with other recognition tools in the past, but ultimately chose HeyTaco for its cheerful, lightweight experience. What else stood out? The daily taco limit. “At first, I was hesitant,” he admitted. “But what I’ve learned is people forget to use monthly or weekly allowances. With daily tacos, it stays top of mind—and that’s when recognition becomes a habit.”

Ritualizing recognition remotely

What began as a grassroots initiative in engineering quickly spread. Luis launched the first Slack channel, called Taco Tuesday, before rebranding it as Gratitude. From there, HeyTaco was officially presented during a cross-functional town hall to introduce it to product, design, and engineering teams.

Key team members led by example, modeling the kind of appreciation they hoped to see. The positive influence worked. Once people started passing out virtual tacos of appreciation outside of their departments, the tool caught on like wildfire across the company. 

Eventually, Luis partnered with HR to roll it out company-wide.

Non-monetary rewards that work

To maintain momentum, Deputy layered in a mix of rewards, including custom swag (tweaked over time to be more wearable), vouchers for meals or books, and even training-related expenses. “We needed options for our remote team around the world,” Luis shared. “So, we tested things, saw what people liked, and adjusted. Not everything worked—but some things really did.”

Luis also emphasized that rewards weren’t the only motivator. “We’ve built rituals around recognition too,” he explained. “Every quarter, during our town halls, we shout out the top givers, not just the top receivers. Giving tacos is what keeps the culture going.”

Democratizing recognition, boosting morale

Luis now helps HR scale HeyTaco’s impact further. He shares his personal spreadsheet to spotlight recognition trends, such as who gives the most tacos across departments, who appreciates the widest range of colleagues, and more. 

He even creates a yearly “Taco Wrapped” post for the whole company, with bonus rewards for standout contributors.

“HeyTaco democratizes recognition,” he said. “It’s not top-down—it’s everyone, every day. That’s what boosts morale. That’s what makes people feel good.”

And while it started as an engineering side project, today Luis is known as the “Taco Guy” across Deputy. “It’s not in my job description,” he laughed. “But it’s something I believe in. If we preach appreciation to our customers, we need to live it ourselves.”