What it is and what it's for#
Peer recognition lets people thank each other for something specific they have seen them do, with a message and, if they like, some points. It is not a values survey and it is not an appraisal: it is a quick and, almost always, public gesture.
Each person has a weekly budget of points to give away. These points can only be given, not spent: whatever is not handed out does not carry over to the next week.
That expiry is deliberate. A budget that piles up ends up forgotten; one that resets every Monday pushes people to recognise now.
How to set it up#
There are three settings, each on its own screen:
| What | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Peer feedback | Company settings, Modules block. | Turns the module on or off for the whole company. |
| Weekly budget | Each person's profile, in Users. | The points that person can give away each week. It is set person by person, so you can give more room to someone whose role is to energise the programme. |
| Limit | Project home page, Point limits block. | The maximum points that can be given in a single recognition within that project. |
The week runs from Monday to Sunday. Each person's balance is their weekly budget minus what they have already given that week in that project: every project keeps its own count.
The relationship between budget and limit defines the behaviour. With a budget of 100 and a limit of 25, each person has to share among at least four colleagues to use it all: the system pushes you to spread points, not to concentrate them.
If the limit equals the budget, almost everyone spends it in one go on a single person. A limit of between a quarter and a fifth of the budget works best.
What a recognition contains#
The person giving recognition opens Recognise someone from the home page and fills in a short form:
- Who do you want to recognize?: a colleague in the project. Nobody can recognise themselves.
- What do you want to say?: the reason. Improve message rewrites it with AI so it reads clearer and more specific.
- Select a celebratory emoji!: the icon that goes with the message.
- Do you want to grant any points?: starts at 0. A recognition can be just the message; if it carries points, it cannot exceed the limit or the remaining balance.
- Do you want to make this feedback public?: on, it appears on the wall; off, only the two people see it.
The message is what gives the gesture its meaning: a recognition without a reason recognises nothing. If you only communicate one thing when you launch the module, make it this.
Moderation#
Every recognition is checked by an AI when it is sent, just like comments. If it looks doubtful, it does not appear on the wall until an administrator publishes it from the inbox. A recognition that is already published is removed with Hide in Comments, filtering by the Recognition type.
What employees see#
- On the home page, the Community block: points received, the recognitions they have been given and Your weekly budget, with what they have left and the Recognise someone button.
- The Love wall, in the Explore menu: the project's public recognitions, with who sent each one, who it is for and the message.
- A notification when someone recognises them, including the points if there are any.
- Points received go into their balance like any other points: they can be spent in the shop and count towards the ranking.
Frequently asked questions#
Can people from different teams recognise each other?
Yes, as long as they are in the same project. It is one of the reasons to have it: it makes visible the collaboration that cuts across departments and that usually nobody sees.
What happens to budget points that are not given away?
They do not carry over to the next week and do not become the person's own balance. Every Monday the person gets their full budget again.
Can someone recognise themselves?
No. The app rejects it.
Can I remove an inappropriate recognition?
Yes: in Comments, with Hide on its row. It is worth watching the wall in the first few weeks: that is where you first notice whether the tone of the programme has been understood.
Are all recognitions public?
No. The person giving it decides with the public feedback switch. Public ones appear on the wall and are the ones that build culture; private ones are for sensitive matters.
Can I give someone a bigger budget than everyone else?
Yes. The budget is a field on each person's profile, in Users.
Limits and caveats#
- Points received count towards the ranking. In very close-knit teams this can turn into habitual cross-recognition; you spot it by checking whether it is always the same pairs.
- A budget that is too high devalues the gesture. If giving away 100 points costs nothing, receiving them means nothing.
- A recognition held by moderation does not appear on the wall, but the recipient already has the points. Check the inbox often so it does not get stuck.
- Nobody is told that their budget is unused beyond what they see on the home page. If you want it used, remind people through other channels in the first few weeks; the Feedback rule in Push Notification rules can notify people who have gone days without recognition activity.
- Someone with no weekly budget cannot give points, although they can still send the message. Check that field when you add people.