AwardFilePlus™ - How to manage your program

Before you start, you will need…

• At least one AwardFilePlus program already added to your platform. Please contact your Client Success Manager or the Client Support Team if you would like this set up for you
  
  
• The Reward Manager permission named RR Budget Holder. Please contact your Client Success Manager or the Client Support Team if you need this assigned to your account
  
  
• An image for each award you want to set up. 
  • Images need to be in JPG or PNG format, 3300 x 2100 pixels in size (landscape orientation), and no larger than 6MB.
    
    
• If you are planning to upload an award file (following the process in this guide (How to: Upload an award file with AwardFilePlus™)), make sure there are enough funds to cover them in your program budget.
  • If you need to add more funds to the budget, please email accounts.receivable@rewardgateway.com to request an invoice. Read more about Reward Gateway's invoicing and payment process on How to: manage recognition budgets on the platform.

Step 1: Find your AwardFilePlus™ program in Reward Manager

Follow the steps below to access your admin portal, Reward Manager, and find your AwardFilePlus™ program.

1. Log in to Reward Manager through the link on the Account slideout on your engagement platform
   
   
   
   
2. Select Reward and Recognition on the left hand side menu
3. Select the Administer option
4. You will reach a page where your AwardFilePlus™ programs will be listed (look out for programs labelled as File Upload). Select View Programme to see the actions you can take for the program you would like to manage

Step 2: Explaining the program configuration page

There are four buttons available to you on the program configuration page:

1. View R&R Scheme: this button takes you back one step in the navigation (e.g. in case you would like to manage a different program)
2. Award Types: this button will lead to a page where you can configure the types of awards available on this program. Award types are covered in Step 3 below
3. Dispatch Batches: this button will lead to a page listing all the awards you have created. A batch is a set of awards you have created through a specific file you have uploaded. You can take different actions for each award on batch, depending on its status. These are covered in Step 4 below.
4. Upload Awards: this button will start the process of uploading an award file. You can learn how to do this on How to: Upload an award file with AwardFilePlus.

The program configuration page also shows more information about your program, which determine how it will work. The two most important details on this page are outlined below.

1. Communication Type - this will be one of three options (full details about each are in this article (How to Upload an award file with AwardFilePlus)
   • Email: recipients are notified of their awards through a system email and an onsite alert, sent within around 45 minutes of uploading the award file. This means you need to provide each recipient's email address in the award file
   • Postal: recipients are notified of their awards through a letter, which you can download in PDF format from Reward Manager, and print or distribute at your end. They also receive an onsite alert (you will be able to decide the timing of this). This means you need to provide each recipient's postal address in the award file
   • None: the system does not generate an email or letter after a file upload. Recipients will only receive an onsite alert (you will be able to decide the timing of this)
   • Note: the onsite alerts mentioned above are not available for clients who are still using the manual award claim process, discontinued in September 2020.
     
     
2. Programme Balance
   • If you see a number in this section (which could be 0), your AwardFilePlus™ program has a dedicated budget, which cannot be used by any other recognition program you have
   • If you see N/A in this section, your AwardFilePlus™ is drawing funds from your main balance, which may be shared with other recognition programs. You can check the main balance by selecting Reward and Recognition > Administer in Reward Manager

Both of these are configured at the implementation stage, based on the preferences you share with the Reward Gateway team. You can change them at any time, by contacting your Client Success Manager or the Client Support Team.

Step 3: Configuring awards on your program

In order to start sending out awards from your program, you will need to have created at least one award type that employees can receive. You can do this through the Award Types page on your program.

Select Create an Award on this page, and you will see the screen below:

To create an award, you will need to provide:

• The image you want employees to see when they receive the award. Images need to be in JPG or PNG format, 3300 x 2100 pixels in size (landscape orientation), and no larger than 6MB.
• The award name employees should see when they receive it (e.g. "Thank you", "Long service award", etc.). You can create multiple awards with the same name, as long as they all have unique award import codes
• A unique award import code. This can be any combination of letters and numbers. Choose something that will be easy for you to include in your award files. Your award file upload will require an award import code for each recipient, to ensure the right award is sent to the right person
• The monetary value of the award. This could be any number between 0 and 10,000. 
  • If you are managing a global program, you will need to enter a monetary value for each country employees may be based in. Within the same award, you can set up different values for different countries; the system will send the correct value based on the country you have assigned employees to in your employee data file

Once you've saved your changes, you will see that the award is listed on the Award Types page, and you can make a note of its award import code so you can start including it in award files.

Step 4: The Dispatch Batches pages

The Dispatch Batches page lists all the awards you have created, grouped into batches.

A batch is a set of awards you have created through a specific file you have uploaded. Multiple batches on this page will correspond to multiple files you have uploaded over time.

When you first land on this page, you will see a list of existing batches. The status of each batch could be:

• Awaiting Dispatch: awards within the batch have been created, but not yet sent to recipients
• Dispatched: awards within the batch have been sent to recipients
• Cancelled: awards have been created and then cancelled at a later stage. They do not sit in recipients' accounts. Any money taken from your program to create these awards has been returned

NOTE: if you see a batch with status Awaiting Invoice, or Invoice Raised, please contact the Client Support Team. These are legacy statuses that will need handling separately.

You can take the following actions for each batch:

• Export List: download a list of all awards within the batch
  • You will find this button again on the page listing all the awards within a batch (i.e. after selecting View Batch)
• View Batch: open a separate page showing all the awards within the batch
• Cancel Batch: you can only do this if a batch is still Awaiting Dispatch. If, in exceptional circumstances, you need to cancel a Dispatched batch, please contact the Client Support team for assistance.
• Dispatch: This is the option you need to select when you are ready to send out awards to employees. You will only see it when the batch is Awaiting Dispatch
  • If your batch's Dispatch Method is Postal or None, no awards will be sent until you select Dispatch.
  • You will not need to do this if the batch's Dispatch Method is email, as awards will be sent automatically in that case.
  • You will find this button again on the page listing all the awards within a batch (i.e. after selecting View Batch)
• Export Letters: You will only see this for batches with the Postal Dispatch Method. You will be able to download a PDF file with one letter per recipient, so you can notify them of their awards at your end
  • You will find this button again on the page listing all the awards within a batch (i.e. after selecting View Batch)

The View batch button opens a separate page showing all the awards within the batch, and you will see a dedicated set of actions for each individual award.

• Edit award: assign the award to a different employee (e.g. if you have allocated it to the wrong person by mistake). You will need to know the employee ID of the new recipient
• Cancel award: unlink the award from the recipient and return the funds to your program balance

You will only see these options when an award is marked as Unclaimed (i.e. the batch is Awaiting Dispatch, or your program is on the legacy configuration involving a manual claim process for every award). This means the award has not yet been added to the recipient's balance, and you can still make changes.

Awards with Claimed status have already been added to recipients' balances, and can be spent at any time. If, in exceptional circumstances, you need to edit or cancel them, please contact the Client Support team for assistance.

NOTE: clients on the legacy process involving manual award claims may see a Resend option next to Unclaimed awards. This allows resending a notification email to recipients, when the batch's Dispatch Method is Email. The system does not support resending notifications (email and/or onsite) for Claimed awards.

To learn about the receiving experience for employees awarded through AwardFilePlus™, take a look at this guide (Redeeming awards received through AwardFilePlus™).