InstantAwards™ is our on-demand, manager-to-employee recognition tool, which puts our clients in control of their reward budget.

InstantAwards™ enables managers to give monetary awards – in the form of instant, electronic vouchers – to their team members to reward great behaviors.

At Reward Gateway, we know that recognition has the biggest ongoing impact to your engagement when it adheres to our recognition pyramid methodology.  The main focus of this is on continuous recognition both to recognize the good (using tools such as eCards) and to empower managers to recognize the great (using InstantAwards™). 

We know that there are plenty of occasions when employees go above and beyond in their behavior and deserve a reward which is a little bit more special. InstantAwards™ enables the managers of our clients to do exactly that, and in a way which further encourages employee engagement, motivation and adds to their employer value proposition. 

Our InstantAwards™ technology makes it easy for managers to reward their team and give employees both recognition and rewards which are relevant and genuinely beneficial to each and every individual who receives them.

Easy, intuitive functionality

Sending an award is super easy. Managers – or whoever has permissions to send awards – will have access to send monetary awards directly from the Social Recognition Wall (the ‘Send Award’ button will only show to those with the relevant permission). They then select the award they wish to send and personalize it with a message to the recipient.

Next, they choose how much the award is worth, and select the ‘Pot’ which they want the funds to come from. The recipient can then access their award, which is placed in their secure account. Simple!

Awards budget management made simple

InstantAwards™ is built with self-service in mind. Our clients can take ownership of their own recognition program and always have complete transparency on their budgets. Unlike traditional R&R products, InstantAwards™ puts the power back in the hands of our clients. 

Our clients can generate invoices, monitor budgets, send and track awards, directly from Reward Manager – a platform they know and trust.

Flexible payment options with award pots

InstantAwards™ works on a system of 'award pots'. This system allows the client to split their total awards budget into separate 'pots' so that different people within their organization – for example, department managers – can look after their own award pot for their teams. 

Each pot can have its own payment terms. So, Janet Bloggs might have 20 direct reports and a budget of $500/month. Meanwhile, her colleague Joe has just 2 direct reports and requests funds for the award pot for his team on a more ad hoc basis, whenever he needs it.

Award pots can be fully controlled by the client – they can add, edit, and delete pots whenever they like. 

Award pots are great for clients who have a total R&R budget, as this budget can be shifted when they wish and allocated to suit their changing needs, yet the total R&R budget is sent to them in one invoice. 

Personalizing the reward experience

With InstantAwards™, we aim to make the experience of receiving an award as impactful as the transparent and tangible monetary amount which is received. 

Every award includes a personal message for the recipient from the sender, helping them to understand how they are contributing to the success of the business and why they were deserving of that award. 

Importantly, award recipients can then choose where to spend their award amount from a huge range of big name in-store and online retailers. Employees can purchase gift cards and vouchers on the platform, which can then be used to buy the items they wish.

Reward Gateway offers a huge amount of choice, meaning that an employee can always choose something of value to them and relevant to their life stage. For example, a graduate on their first job may have very different expectations of what ‘an award’ means to them than a family-focused employee raising their second child. Once the retailer is selected, their voucher is available to use straight away, removing any time or choice barriers to engagement and enabling an impactful gesture of appreciation.

Relevant awards combined with hassle-free redemption 

As soon as an award has been sent, the employee will receive a congratulations email (see image below) and onsite alert. If they prefer not to be notified, they can adjust their alert settings through the Communication Preferences on their account.

The notification will prompt them to visit a landing page on the platform (see image below), where they can see their award and recognition message.

To make sure the award receiving experience is as smooth as can be, the monetary amount of the award is added to their recognition balance the moment the award is sent. This means that they'll find it on their account as soon as they log in to see the award, and can spend it at any time.

Flexibility to spend awards at any time

Employees can see their recognition balance by selecting "See options" on the award landing page, or visiting their Account Settings page on the platform.

They can choose whether to spend their award immediately, or leave the award value in their balance until they have accrued more awards. Once ready, they can choose to redeem their award with multiple different retailers, helping to make it a highly useful, relevant and beneficial award for every single employee. If the employee wants to purchase an Instant Voucher for more than their award value they can pay the remainder with their debit or credit card – allowing for maximum flexibility. 

Helpful notifications

We’ve built an intuitive notification system into InstantAwards™ to keep managers and employees always informed. They will receive notifications for new awards, low balances, fund requests, and more. 

Clients can choose their own communication rules (including what content is communicated and when) when setting up a new program.

Great for offline workforces

InstantAwards™ has been designed to work with all workforces. As well as delivering awards by email, our clients can choose to print high-quality awards directly from Reward Manager which can then be delivered in the way they feel will have the biggest impact.

This gives managers in offline workforces the opportunity to offer on-demand cash awards to staff without any of the operational risk associated with handling large volumes of physical gift vouchers and cash.

Fully trackable and measurable 

Every InstantAwards™ transaction is tracked in the client's Reward Manager account, where they can find details of every award, refund or cash transfer. Transactions can be searched, downloaded and printed by the client without needing to request anything from us.

The Transaction History is a dynamic piece of software. It recognizes who is viewing it, and displays only the information which that user needs to see – keeping security high. This means that managers see their own pots' transactions only, while budget holders can see all transactions.

Availability & Cost

InstantAwards™ is a chargeable product and can be used in selected countries where we are able to offer redemption options.

Also read Which countries is SmartAwards™ available in?

More information

For InstantAwards™ pricing or activation inquiries, our Consultants, Account Managers, and Client Success Managers are here to help. Send us a message and we’ll respond within 24 hours.