How to Give a Recognition
Steps for employees to send recognition, choose visibility, and use points when your program allows them.
Who this is for:
All employees who want to recognize their teammates.
What you'll achieve
You'll send a recognition to one or more teammates — with an optional point value they can redeem for rewards — and choose whether it appears publicly in the team feed or stays private. The whole process takes under a minute.
Steps
Recognition uses a three-step form. Each step has its own screen, and you can move back and forth with the Back and Next buttons at the bottom.
Step 1 — Choose your recipients
Search by name and select one or more teammates. You can recognize up to 50 people at once; each person receives the same message and the same number of points.
If your admin has enabled external recipients, you can also type an email address for someone who hasn't joined your workspace yet. They'll receive an invitation automatically and see the recognition when they log in.
You can't send a recognition to yourself. PraisePal quietly removes you from the recipient list, and if you're the only person selected, it'll let you know.
Step 2 — Set your points
Enter the number of points you'd like to give per recipient. If you're recognizing five people with 20 points each, 100 points total come out of your budget. The form shows your remaining budget alongside the input so you can see what's available before you commit.
A quick reference line below the input reminds you of the conversion rate: 100 points = US$1 in reward value.
You can also enter 0 if you just want to share a kind word without transferring points. Budget limits still apply to non-zero amounts — the form tells you the maximum you can give and why, whether that's your personal allowance, a shared team pool, or a per-recipient cap your admin has set.
Budget limits apply. If the amount you enter exceeds what's available, the form will tell you the limit and which constraint is active. Try a lower number, send a 0-point recognition, or wait until your budget resets on the 1st of the month.
Step 3 — Write your message and choose a company value
Describe what this person did and why it mattered. Messages can be up to 500 characters, and your admin sets a minimum length (typically at least 10 characters). A character counter and an emoji picker sit alongside the text area.
Specific messages land better than generic praise — mentioning the project, the situation, or the impact gives the recipient something concrete to feel good about.
If your organization uses company values, a dropdown appears below the message where you can tag the value that best fits. Each value shows its name and a short description to help you choose. Depending on your workspace settings this may be optional or required.
Before you send
The privacy toggle is available in the footer on every step — you don't need to wait until the end. By default, recognitions are public (visible to everyone in the workspace). Toggle the lock icon to make it private if your admin has enabled that option.
Private recognitions are visible to you, the recipients, and workspace admins — but they won't appear in the public feed.
When everything looks right, click Create Post on the final step.
What to expect after
You'll see a confirmation that your recognition was sent and how many people received it. If the recognition is public, it appears in the feed immediately and teammates can comment on it, share it to social media, or copy a direct link.
Points transfer to each recipient's Earnings balance right away, and your Allowance decreases by the per-person amount multiplied by the number of recipients.
Recognitions cannot be edited or deleted once sent, and points transfer immediately. Double-check your message and point amount before sending.
Common mistakes
Pro tips
Zero-point recognitions are underrated.
A thoughtful message with no points attached still shows up in the feed and still means something. Use them when you want to say thanks without spending budget.
Be specific.
"Thanks for staying late to fix the deploy pipeline on Tuesday" is more memorable than "Great job!" — and it gives others context when they see it in the feed.