What Employees See vs What Admins Control
Compares employee-facing recognition, programs, and rewards with the workspace settings, budgets, and catalogs that administrators configure.
What this article covers
PraisePal separates day-to-day participation from workspace governance. Most people use PraisePal as members—they give recognition, receive points, join programs, and redeem rewards. A smaller group of admins and workspace owners configures the rules behind that experience.
This separation keeps the employee view simple while giving accountable people control over policy, spend, and access.
Why the split exists
Recognition and rewards touch budgets, permissions, and finance controls. If every participant could edit catalog settings, billing, or workspace policies, teams would see inconsistent behavior and higher risk.
By keeping configuration in admin areas, you can delegate safely. Members get a consistent experience, while admins can assign limited responsibilities through permission groups instead of granting full control to everyone.
What each group sees
Day-to-day, members see their own activity and available rewards. They can give and receive recognition, participate in programs, browse and redeem rewards, and manage their own profile.
Behind the scenes, admins shape what appears there: recognition rules, company values, budgets, automations, reward catalogs, user management, teams, and billing. The exact areas an admin can reach depend on owner status, permission group, and plan—see the related article on roles and permissions for details.
There's also a middle ground: program members. A member who has been added as a manager or finance member on a specific incentive program can manage or view that program without having full admin access. They see a My Programs view on the Incentives page alongside their normal employee experience. This makes it possible for a team lead or finance partner to manage a single program without accessing workspace-wide settings.
Example: a budget limit in action
Jordan opens the recognition flow to send 50 points but sees "You have 20 points remaining this month." Jordan can still participate, just within the limit the admin configured. Jordan cannot see or change budget settings.
An admin reviewing the same workspace can open the budget setup, adjust the monthly allowance, and save. That change updates what Jordan sees next time—without exposing budget configuration screens to the rest of the workspace.
Questions we hear often
Does everyone see the same navigation?
No. Members do not see admin setup areas. If someone cannot find a setting, they are likely a standard member—or an admin whose permissions do not include that area.
Can all admins do everything?
No. Admin capabilities depend on owner status and permission group assignment. Some settings are also plan-dependent.
If I can send recognition, can I configure budgets?
No. Sending recognition uses the rules an admin configured. Changing those rules—values, limits, catalogs—requires admin access.
Can someone manage a specific program without being a full admin?
Yes. Admins can add workspace users as program members with a Manager or Finance role on individual incentive programs. Program members only see the programs they've been assigned to—not the full admin console.