How DevSamurai Built a Culture of Peer Recognition with the Made My Day Program & Feature Bundle App

When feedback is limited to annual reviews or top-down KPI metrics, day-to-day employee contributions often go unnoticed, leading to low engagement and disconnected teams. To change this, DevSamurai implemented the Made My Day program, an HR initiative powered by Jira Service Management and Feature Bundle by Appsvio.

After replacing surface-level tracking with a transparent, automated Kudos system, the company turned static corporate values into daily habits, visibly driving up team motivation, cross-department collaboration, and organic workplace bonding.

Introducing DevSamurai

Established in 2018 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, DevSamurai Inc. is an IT service management and software development company. The team builds B2B SaaS solutions designed to optimize operations, improve resource planning, and enhance team collaboration.

Operating primarily as an ecosystem developer, DevSamurai creates applications for major cloud platforms, including the Atlassian Marketplace, monday.com App Marketplace, Salesforce AppExchange, and Microsoft AppSource.

The Challenge

DevSamurai faced a dual challenge: a lack of day-to-day visibility into individual employee well-being and low initial engagement when launching their new feedback initiative.

Initially, the company relied on monthly KPI meetings, which provided only surface-level, team-based feedback rather than individual insights. To address this, they introduced the Made My Day program via Jira Service Management.

However, the team initially met the program with neutrality.

“Participation was low because people weren’t used to giving feedback in this way, and it felt a bit unnatural,” says Joey Dam, Product Marketing Specialist at DevSamurai. “The main challenge was getting people started.”

Furthermore, team members often lacked awareness of their own positive impact, rarely recognizing the small contributions that resonated with their colleagues.

“Before the program, many of my colleagues at DevSamurai didn’t really realize how their work positively impacted others,” explains Peter Tran, Partnership Manager. “So when they received Kudos, their first reaction was usually surprise, they didn’t expect it at all.”

The Solution

DevSamurai used Feature Bundle for Jira Service Management by Appsvio to build a structured, transparent, and anonymous Kudos flow. The app allowed the team to track each Kudos from submission through review, all the way to automatic Slack notifications.

Kudos process in DevSamurai company

To overcome the initial friction and drive adoption, the management introduced a small reward system. This incentive encouraged the team to submit their first entries, helping them get used to the process and integration.

Real-life example of a Kudos journey

The Results

The program shifted team dynamics introducing a bottom-up recognition culture that complements standard performance reviews. While managers continue to focus on KPIs and execution, team members use the system to recognize soft skills, such as collaboration, support during stressful projects, and willingness to help.

“People tend to recognize softer aspects like collaboration, support, attitude during stressful projects - things that don’t usually show up in reports,” says Joey Dam. “This makes people feel appreciated not just for what they deliver, but how they work with others.”

The initiative delivered measurable improvements across team motivation and connection:

• Increased confidence: Employees regularly express surprise upon receiving recognition, helping them see their own value. As Peter Tran points out: “This has had a visible impact on their mood and motivation, they become more positive, engaged, and confident in their work.”
• Proactive communication: The barrier to daily collaboration has noticeably dropped. “We’ve seen people become more open in sharing ideas and more proactive in discussing their work with each other,” notes DevSamurai’s Partnership Manager.
• Organic team bonding: The appreciation culture has led to genuine personal connections outside of formal work requirements.

“The real value shows up in the small moments,” Joey Dam highlights. “Recently, our marketing team even started planning a camping trip together - and it wasn’t driven by management, it just happened naturally.”

Before the program, many of my colleagues at DevSamurai didn’t really realize how their work positively impacted others. When they received Kudos, their first reaction was usually surprise, they didn’t expect it at all.

Peter Tran, Partnership Manager, DevSamurai

Final Thoughts

For DevSamurai, the Made My Day program proved that structured peer recognition goes beyond standard HR metrics. While the project delivered expected corporate benefits like smoother communication, its true impact lies in shifting the workplace culture from purely transactional to genuinely collaborative.

Using Feature Bundle to remove friction from the feedback process, the team managed to bridge the gap between management metrics and day-to-day peer support.

“For me, I’d say yes, but maybe not for the usual reasons,” reflects Joey Dam. “When people regularly appreciate each other, they build more genuine connections, not just professional ones. So overall, it’s definitely been worth it, not just for performance, but for building a stronger, more connected team.”

About Made My Day

The Made My Day program is a proprietary feedback initiative developed at Appsvio by HR Business Partner Magdalena Skoropada. Designed as part of a broader four-stage feedback system, the program aims to bring the human element back to the forefront of the IT industry and ensure company values translate into real employee behaviors rather than remaining static text on a Confluence page.

People tend to recognize softer aspects like collaboration, support, attitude during stressful projects - things that don’t usually show up in reports. This makes them feel appreciated not just for what they deliver, but how they work with others.

Joey Dam, Product Marketing Specialist, DevSamurai

To make peer recognition as simple and transparent as possible, we built the program using Jira Service Management, Slack, and Feature Bundle. While technology itself did not create the culture of appreciation, integrating the app allowed us to design an intuitive employee experience. The setup removes technical barriers, making it easy for team members to submit Kudos, understand the flow, and track the status of their recognition.

Want to launch a Made My Day program in your team? Book a free call with Magdalena to learn how to set up and automate peer recognition in your organization.