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How Covalent Lithium powers a culture of performance with recognition

See how Covalent Lithium partnered with Reward Gateway to embed recognition into everyday operations, align employees to business goals, and strengthen culture across a growing, dispersed workforce.

Covalent Lithium

Covalent Lithium is a greenfields business in Australia’s mining and resources sector, producing lithium hydroxide, a key ingredient in electric vehicle batteries. With a workforce spread across three sites, Covalent knew it needed a consistent and scalable approach to recognition that would connect people to the company’s performance culture and long-term mission.

95%

of employees activated

$21.8k+

in employee savings in 1 year 

$2,000+

awards sent in 1 year

425+

eCards sent in 1 year

The Challenge 

As a new business building its culture from the ground up, Covalent Lithium faced inconsistency in how recognition was applied. Different pockets of the business created their own frameworks, service awards were celebrated in some teams but not others, and dispersed sites meant employees often lacked visibility of recognition moments outside their own location.

Employee engagement data further highlighted that leaders weren’t consistently recognising the right behaviours, and appreciation wasn’t always reaching the people who needed it most.

At the same time, the executive team had identified building a performance-based culture as a critical organisational goal.

“We wanted to break away from the annual performance cycle and make recognition and performance conversations part of the day-to-day,” explains Luke Greenwood, Manager Learning and Organisational Development at Covalent Lithium.

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Industry:

Mining & Resources

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Number of employees:

600+ employees

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Platform features:

Employee recognition, employee communications

The ApproachLiFT Covalent Lithium

To support its roadmap for a performance culture, Covalent launched its recognition platform, LiFT, in partnership with Reward Gateway.

The name was inspired by the chemical symbol for lithium (Li), representing both the company’s core business and the platform’s purpose of uplifting employees. Designed in the style of the periodic table, the branding resonated strongly across the workforce.

Key elements of Covalent’s approach included:

  • Authentic branding: A name and design true to the organisation’s identity, integrating seamlessly with internal systems.

  • Leadership buy-in: Executives and senior managers were engaged early, with visible participation (liking, commenting, posting) encouraged.

  • Frontline engagement: Campaigns reached operational employees through daily pre-starts, toolbox talks, posters and on-site materials, ensuring inclusion beyond office staff.

  • Alignment to performance: Peer-to-peer eCards and instant rewards were linked to Covalent’s business scorecard pillars: safety, production, cost and people.

  • Cultural reinforcement: Ambassadors and top senders/receivers of recognition were celebrated, highlighting collaboration across teams.

“Even a simple like or comment from a senior leader has had a huge ripple effect,” Luke says. “It creates visibility, pride and connection in a way we didn’t anticipate.”

The Results

LiFT has quickly become embedded in Covalent Lithium’s culture, connecting dispersed teams and reinforcing the company’s mission.

  • Recognition is now consistent and aligned across all sites

  • Executive participation has set the tone, driving high engagement

  • Employees link everyday behaviours to business scorecard goals (safety, production, cost, people)

  • Recognition moments are visible across the organisation, boosting connection and collaboration

  • Campaigns celebrating top senders and cross-team recognition reinforce desired behaviours

covalentlithium.rewardgateway.com.au_SmartHub 1

“Recognition has become part of how we operate day-to-day. It’s not just about saying thank you, it’s about tying people’s contributions back to our bigger purpose and performance goals.”