Scheduled recognition automates the experience of recognizing key milestones that are meaningful to employees and the business.
Scheduled recognition programs can help clients advance their recognition programs in many ways:
- Replacing existing manual and admin-heavy recognition initiatives
- Centralizing recognition efforts under one brand and one platform
- Creating consistency and unity to deliver an exciting employee journey
Read on to learn more about the key features that can help clients promote a culture of meaningful recognition through scheduled awards.
Scheduled long service programs
Through Reward Gateway’s administration portal, Reward Manager, clients will be able to create scheduled recognition for a service anniversary.
Each employee's anniversary date will be calculated based on the Start Date provided on the client’s member eligibility file.
Clients will be able to create awards for all the service milestones they want to celebrate (e.g. 1 years, 3 years, 10 years, etc.), or indicate that they are happy for employees to be recognized on their work anniversary every year. They will also be able to create awards to welcome their new starters as soon as they join (0 days after) or couple of days after they have settled down.
On their work anniversary date, all recipients will be notified that they have received recognition via email (if their email address is linked to their account) and onsite alert.
Scheduled birthday programs
Through Reward Gateway’s administration portal, Reward Manager, clients will be able to create scheduled recognition for employees’ birthdays.
Each employee's birthday will be based on the Date of Birth provided on the client’s member eligibility file.
Every year, on their birthday, all recipients will be notified via email (if their email address is linked to their account) and via an onsite alert that they have received recognition.
Scheduled recognition on custom dates
Many businesses wish to recognize employees on custom dates. For example, employers may want to recognize:
- National holidays (e.g. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter)
- Recurring dates that are meaningful to their business and employees. (e.g. company anniversary date, Employee Appreciation Day, etc.)
- Specific achievements (e.g. rewarding a large number of employees for a competition run internally, celebrating year and quarter ends)
Through Reward Gateway’s administration portal, Reward Manager, clients will be able to create scheduled recognition moments for custom dates of their choice. They will be able to choose whether the recognition should be sent on a one-off basis (i.e. the next time the date occurs) or on a recurring basis (i.e. on the same date every year). On the chosen date, all recipients will be notified that they have received recognition via email (if their email address is linked to their account) and onsite alert.
The system will save the date once the award is set up, ensuring there is no need for clients to upload dates as additional fields on their membership files.
Flexible options for each milestone
As well as choosing between the three types of milestones described so far, clients will be able to:
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Add branded artwork and a personal message connected to each milestone (for each scheduled award, all recipients will receive the same artwork and message)
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Indicate a monetary amount the users will receive, or no amount if the recognition is non monetary. For clients using points-based recognition across multiple countries, amounts for the same award can be different for each country
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Select the group of users that are eligible to receive scheduled recognition (e.g. all eligible users, or the eligible users in a specific segment such as a department, job level or office location)
- Recognize the same milestone with different visuals, messages and / or amounts within specific employee groups (e.g. a scheduled long service award can look different across different office locations)
Social Recognition
Alongside eCards, Nominations and Instant Awards, Scheduled Recognition can also be shared on the Social Recognition Wall. This means clients can now choose whether the recognition will be public or private. Recognitions which are made public are added to the Wall. This includes different types of recognitions including anniversaries, birthdays, Welcome messages and those custom one-off events.
Grouping - how does it work?
The scheduled recognitions shared on the wall are grouped, so recognitions sent to a large number of receivers will not cover the wall.
The grouping will collapse scheduled recognitions for the receiver in the same segment and that was sent out at the same time. (i.e Recognition is sent out according to users’ timezone, so you may see Recognition grouped separately for users in Australia, Bulgaria, the UK and the United States)
The grouping will be applied when there are 5 or more items, if there are less than the recognitions will appear as separate items. Users can click to show more, react or comment on individual recognitions.
Dedicated budget for scheduled recognition
Clients who wish to schedule awards with monetary values will be able to set aside a dedicated budget for scheduled recognition and replenish it with a frequency of their choice (e.g. monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.). This will cover all awards sent through the scheduled recognition program.
Read more about how budgets are managed in Reward Manager in this article.
The system will check budget availability for scheduled recognition on a daily basis. Awards that cannot be sent with the available budget on the day will be placed in a queue, so clients can resend them once they have added more funds to their budget.
Product comparison: Scheduled Recognition and AwardFilePlus™
Both Scheduled Recognition and AwardFilePlus™ enable clients to reward groups of employees, from one-off recognition to recurring initiatives for large segments.
Take a look at the chart below to understand which product can best suit your use case.
| Scheduled Recognition | AwardFilePlus™ | |
| Automation |
Automates all recognition, based on employee groups (segments) created through the data in the client's employee data files. |
Relies on a dedicated file populated by the client, and sent to the Client Support Team for processing. |
| Scheduling capability |
Birthday recognition is sent on each employee's birthday, every year. Work Anniversary recognition is sent on the anniversary of each employee's start date (one-off or yearly). Custom Date recognition is sent on a date of the client's choice (one-off or yearly). |
All awards within a file are processed in bulk on the same date (to be agreed with the Client Support Team). |
| Award value |
Supports both monetary and non-monetary recognition. Clients can set up as many scheduled awards as they need (self-service). |
Supports both monetary and non-monetary recognition. Clients can set up as many awards as they need, by requesting them to the Client Support Team. |
| Audience |
Registered and unregistered users. Clients can limit recipients to specific employee segments, based on data already provided through employee data files |
Registered and unregistered users. Clients can limit recipients to specific employee groups, by only adding the intended recipients to the award file. |
| Communication to recipients |
All recipients are notified with an onsite alert. Registered users only also receive an email if their email address is linked to their account. |
Clients can choose one of three communication methods: Email and onsite alert; PDF letter and onsite alert; Onsite alert only. |
| Personalization | Each award comes with dedicated artwork and a message chosen by the client. All recipients will see the same artwork and message. | Each award comes with dedicated artwork and a message chosen by the client. All recipients will see the same artwork. Customized messages by employee can be added to the award file. |
Availability & Cost
Scheduled recognition is a chargeable feature, available from late August 2020 to all Reward Gateway clients using the features below:
- SmartAwards™ product
- Automated award claim process (i.e. awards added to employees’ balances as soon as they are sent)
Monetary awards can be used in selected countries where we are able to offer redemption options. Non-monetary awards can be sent to employees based in any country.
Also read Which countries is SmartAwards™ available in?
More information
To speak to one of our Consultants or Client Success Managers about scheduled recognition, send us a message and we’ll respond within 24 hours.