How to create and manage Nominations

Nominations give your employees and leaders a voice in recognizing excellence. Instead of choosing award recipients directly, you can invite peers, managers, or teams to nominate individuals. Once the nomination period ends, reviewers finalize winners and the platform automatically issues the award.

Because the outcome of a nomination is the recipient receiving an award, setting up a nomination starts with defining the award to be given. For more guidance on creating awards, see the How to create and manage awards article. Once you've defined the award, you can customize additional settings like nomination windows, submission limits, and reviewer permissions.

This approach keeps recognition structured, visible, and aligned with your culture while reducing manual work often seen in survey forms, spreadsheets, or email processes.

• Running peer-to-peer programs like Employee of the Month or quarterly value awards
• Leadership-led nominations where managers put forward top performers for special recognition
• Team-based nominations that allow departments to spotlight outstanding contributions within their group
• Campaign-style programs (e.g., innovation challenges or wellness initiatives) that benefit from broad input
• Collecting rich stories from nominators to help celebrate achievements during company-wide recognition moments

Creating a nomination

1. In the Admin menu, go to Engagement > Awards & nominations
2. Select the Nomination tab and click on Create nomination
3. Enter a name, description, and optional badge image for the award being given with this nomination
4. Define the opening and closing dates for your nomination
5. Create awareness with nominators when the nomination starts by
   • Notifying them personally 
   • Pinning a post addressed to them under Upcoming and important
6. Limit how many nominations each nominator can submit (Optional)
7. Assign who can select winners (all admins by default, or add specific individuals and teams)
8. Click Edit nomination form to create your nomination questionnaire (1 to 10 questions)
9. Set the points value each winner will receive and select a point bank to fund it
10. Define your audiences:
    • Nominators: Who can submit nominations (entire org or selected teams)
    • Nominees: Who is eligible to be nominated (entire org or selected teams)
11. Save your nomination

Submitting a nomination

1. During the open period, nominators can submit a nomination from the Awards & nominations page
2. Select the nomination and click Nominate someone
3. Choose a nominee from the eligible list
4. Fill in the nomination form and click Submit
5. Repeat as needed if multiple nominations are allowed

Reviewing nominations

1. In the Admin menu, go to Engagement > Awards & nominations > Nominations
2. Open the nomination program you want to review
3. View the list of nominees and their submitted nominations
4. Shortlist nominees by moving them into the Winners pool (using the + button)
5. You can continue reviewing throughout the open period and after it closes
6. Export all submissions to CSV if you want to share or review externally.

Finalizing winners

1. Once the nomination period is closed, select finalists in the Winners pool
2. Click Finalize winners
3. Add a message that will display in the award
4. Click Finalize winners again to confirm
5. The award and points (if included) are automatically sent to the winner(s), and recipients are notified immediately

Note: The Finalize winners option is only available once the nomination period is closed. Click on the Open status card to instantly extend the nomination or set it to closed.

• Use nomination prompts that tie directly to company values or recognition themes.
• Assign non-admin reviewers (like managers or committee members) to help finalize winners.
• Pin posts to Upcoming and important during nomination periods and for final award announcements to increase visibility.
• Limit nominations per person to improve quality and prevent over-submission.
• Use CSV exports if your review process involves committees or external judging.

Q: Can nominations be peer-to-peer and manager-led?
A: Yes. You can configure whether the nominator audience includes all employees, only managers, or specific teams.

Q: Can I extend a nomination period?
A: Yes. You can update the close date at any time if you need more submissions.

Q: Can users see who was nominated?
A: Nominators can see who they nominated, but only reviewers can see all nominations received. 

Q: Can winners be finalized before the end date?
A: No. Nominees can be moved to the Winners pool at any time, but winners can only be finalized after the nomination period is closed.

Q: Will winners automatically receive their award?
A: Yes. Once finalized, winners are awarded immediately and notified in-app and by email.

Problem: Reviewers can’t access nomination submissions

• Verify they’ve been added under Who can select winners for the award
• Confirm that the nomination period has started and not yet ended

Problem: Winners can’t be finalized

• Make sure the nomination period has closed
• Verify the point bank has sufficient funds (if points are being awarded)

Problem: Winners didn’t receive points

• Check the nomination setup to ensure a point value was added and a point bank was selected
• Verify the winners are eligible to receive points with recognition in your Point preferences settings