How Real Teams Use HeyTaco: Rituals, Rewards & Recognition That Work

In a recent HeyTaco webinar, three experienced admins - Monica Gillespey (Chief People Officer at Lumistry), Sam Reilley (VP of People and Culture at BSC Analytics), and Christie Baer (Team Member Engagement Specialist at Rocket Money) - shared how they use peer recognition to create authentic connection, stronger culture, and more fun at work.

Below are the highlights: what’s working, what’s creative, and what surprised even them.

Encouraging Leaders to Share Recognition

Recognition thrives when it’s modeled from the top - and these admins didn’t wait around for that to happen organically.

• Nudge them in the moment: Monica shared that when a leader thanks someone in a meeting, she gently follows up: “Did you give them a taco?” These small reminders go a long way in building the habit.
• Let them feel the impact: Christie gave an executive temporary permission to send 100 tacos, and he sent 30 to a support team. He was blown away by the responses - and instantly realized the power of gratitude.
• Tag them into meaningful moments: Sam keeps execs in the loop by surfacing tacos that tell a deeper story, encouraging them to pile on or acknowledge the impact publicly.
  
  

Lesson: Recognition isn’t just a team-building tool - it’s a leadership opportunity. Sometimes they just need a little help seeing it.

Making Rewards Work (and Fun)

Yes, rewards matter - but they don’t have to be expensive to be engaging. These admins use creative, flexible incentives to keep things fresh.

• Mix small & big rewards: From $5 coffee runs and taco night gift cards to big-ticket items like airline vouchers or a trip to HQ, the variety keeps people motivated.
• Rotate items regularly: Monica’s team updates their taco store every 6 months - or sooner when new ideas come up.
• Ask employees what they want: Tired of guessing? Just ask. Monica's team crowdsourced suggestions for new rewards - and ended up adding spa gift cards, virtual games, and more.
• Creative ideas: One reward allows a team member to emcee the company all-hands. Another lets teams pool tacos to grow their quarterly team-building budget.
  
  

Lesson: A good taco economy isn’t built on cash alone - it’s built on options people actually care about.

Rituals That Keep Recognition Flowing

A little structure goes a long way. These teams use monthly, quarterly, and annual rituals to keep recognition alive and visible.

• Monthly
  
  • Taco Tuesday Raffle: At Rocket Money, the top 15 givers each month are entered into a raffle for Amaze points. Winners are announced in a fun, cheeky video.

• • Core Values Challenge: Lumistry ran a challenge throughout which each month focused on one of their four core values. Employees used hashtags to tag relevant tacos. Winners were announced at the all-hands meeting.
    
    
• Quarterly
  
  • Ownership Award: BSC uses taco data to identify employees who embody company values like “ownership.” High taco counts often correlate with high impact.

• • Team building budgets: At Lumistry each team gets $50/person per quarter. Tacos can be redeemed to increase that pot - empowering teams to do more together.
    
    
• Annually
  
  • Golden & Silver Taco Awards: Rocket Money honors the person who gave the most tacos (Silver) and received the most (Gold) each year. Yes, there are actual taco trophies.
  • TacoCon: BSC’s company retreat includes fun events, time to connect as people and swag, and yes - it’s called TacoCon.

• • Tacos for Charity: At BSC, employees can redeem tacos for charitable donations. In 2023, they raised over $10,000, and the company matched a portion to boost the impact.
    
    

Lesson: Rituals don’t just create consistency - they give people a reason to participate and something to look forward to.

Best Practices from the Front Lines

Across all three teams, a few best practices kept coming up:

• Launch with a splash: Monica introduced HeyTaco with actual tacos and hot sauce. It helped the team embrace the tool immediately.
• Celebrate in public: All teams encourage giving tacos in a shared channel like #for-the-win or #tacotruck so everyone can join the celebration.
• Require real messages: Recognition only works when it’s meaningful. Admins gently discourage one-word or blank tacos to preserve the integrity of the taco economy.
• Use tacos to reinforce values: Whether it’s with hashtags or emoji-powered Slackbots, these teams made values a daily part of the taco conversation.
• Lean into learning: BSC created a dedicated channel where engineers celebrate earning certifications—and get showered in tacos. It builds a culture of growth.
• Bring tacos into the physical world: send taco hats for managers to wear in a meeting, cate taco lunches for in-person events and send taco plushies to the team MVPs. There is so much taco stuff out there.
  
  

Lesson: Recognition isn’t something that happens once. It's something you design for—over and over again.

Additional Insights That Stuck

These weren’t part of the original questions, but they revealed something deeper about why recognition works when it’s done right.

• Gratitude cuts through hard moments: Several admins said their most meaningful tacos were the ones received during tough weeks or emotional conversations. A simple “I see you” goes a long way.
  
  
• The “last taco of the day” has magic: When someone says “this is my last taco and I’m giving it to you,” it carries extra weight.
  
  
• Recognition becomes identity: One company was acquired - but kept HeyTaco because it was too core to who they were as a team.
  
  
• Automations amplify visibility: Christie’s team built a Slackbot that detects value-tagged emoji and sends a message into the HeyTaco channel. It makes value-aligned behavior visible in seconds.
  
  
• Small wins matter: “Tiny victories” (like finally getting your oil changed) were celebrated alongside major milestones. It created a culture of momentum and empathy.
  
  

Lesson: Recognition isn’t just about big wins or gift cards. It’s about making people feel seen - consistently, meaningfully, and with a little bit of fun.

Final Takeaway

Every team has different needs, but the best cultures don’t treat recognition like a box to check. They build rituals around it. They talk about it. They joke about it. They make it part of their identity.

Whether you’re just starting or looking to refresh your HeyTaco program, these stories are proof: a strong taco economy can do more than boost morale. It can build a culture people don’t want to leave.