End of Year FAQ: Budget, Celebrations, and Reward Redemptions

  • Updated

As the year comes to a close, it’s important to make the most of the WorkTango Recognition & Rewards platform to celebrate your employees and their achievements. This guide will help admins navigate the unique challenges of the End of Year (EOY) period, from managing increased recognition activity and redemption spikes to using tools such as Bulk Recognition for company-wide celebrations.

Where is my Reward Fulfillment Balance located and who receives invoices?

Your Reward Fulfillment Balance can be found via the admin dashboard on the top right. It should look similar to this example:

The current balance denotes the funds available to be used to fulfill redemptions made by your employees. When this value reaches below 50% of your regular fulfillment invoice amount, a new invoice should be sent to the specified contact(s). 

The recipient(s) of your fulfillment invoice can be confirmed or altered at any time by reaching out to billing@worktango.com

Reward Fulfillment Balance: Funds used to supply employees with their redemptions. When these funds are exhausted, they can be replenished with additional funds. The frequency of invoices is dependent on the frequency of redemptions. Subscription Fees: Your organization’s subscription cost for access to the platform, usually paid yearly.

Why is End of Year different than the rest of the year?

The End of Year (EOY) period is distinct from the rest of the year due to a few  factors:

Increased Recognition Activity: As the year wraps up and the holiday season approaches, there's often a natural increase in recognition activity. Employees and managers often take this time to reflect on accomplishments, acknowledge hard work, and celebrate milestones. It’s a popular time for sending EOY gratitude messages, making it a peak period for engagement in the platform. This increase in engagement then has a direct impact on reward redemptions.

Spike in Redemptions: Redemptions tend to spike significantly towards the end of the year. Many employees choose to redeem their points for holiday gifts, special experiences, or treat themselves with rewards as a way to celebrate their efforts throughout the year. 

This spike in redemptions is usually captured via the graph “Points redeemed for Rewards over time”, which is located on the Rewards Dashboard. It can be helpful to visit this page and determine to what degree your redemptions increased during this time last year.

What should I be doing differently during End of Year?

We recommend doing the below to ensure a smooth End of Year experience for both admins and employees:

Monitor Your Reward Fulfillment Balance. As more and more redemptions come through the platform during EOY, it's likely that you will find your fulfillment balance being depleted at a faster rate than normal. If this is the case, keeping an eye on your balance during this time will help prevent delays in redemptions and provide a seamless experience for your employees.

Consider requesting a one-time invoice to increase your Reward Fulfillment Balance. If your platform data is showing a significant spike in redemptions during EOY, you can proactively request a one-time invoice from billing@worktango.com to supplement your funds. We can’t give a recommended amount, as every organization has a different number of employees, but it’s safer to overestimate to ensure your balance does not run out. Any remaining funds from the one-time invoice carry over to the next year.

Which Dashboards and Reports can be used to gather redemption data?

Redemption data can be found both via Dashboards and Reports. The relevant options are listed below:

  • Rewards Dashboard
  • Redemptions Report
  • Taxable redemptions by employee Report
  • Taxable total redemptions Report

Depending on what data you need, these Dashboards and Reports will provide you with the available redemption details.

Tax settings can be checked via the Admin dashboard > Rewards  > Tax Settings

We want to send a holiday gift to every employee in WorkTango. What's the best way?

This is the perfect time of year to use Bulk Recognition! With Bulk Recognition you can ensure all your employees receive Recognition from your company, the CEO, or even the head of an ERG during this time of year. This ensures no one is left out, and helps to bridge the gap between leadership and employees for a stronger sense of belonging.

As an Admin, you can easily schedule Bulk Recognitions to large numbers of employees at once - or the entire company.

Check out our Bulk Recognition Article for additional details.

Consider requesting a one-time invoice to proactively add funds to your Reward Fulfillment Balance prior to sending out a Bulk Recognition.

What’s the best way to recognize End of Year achievements related to the platform?

We feel it's important to celebrate the accomplishments of those who truly make your WorkTango platform special. With this in mind, here are five Employee Award Ideas you could give out to employees based on platform activity:

  1. High Five Hero (Most High-Fives Given)
  2. Incentive Hunter (Most Incentives Claimed)
  3. Comment Crusader (Most Comments Sent)
  4. Appreciation Champion (Most Recognitions Sent by a non-manager)
  5. Leadership Luminary (Most Recognitions Sent by  a manager)

The data to determine who would receive these Employee Awards can be found via the Recognition Activity Dashboard. #4 and #5 would only require the Managers filter to be set for the corresponding population.

Once you document your winners, celebrate them publicly! This could be accomplished with individual Special Recognitions, or winners could be identified during an EOY All Hands meeting so they receive the spotlight they deserve.

Do you have any advice for reward options that can be provided with minimal budget impact for the company?

The best way to reduce budget impact from reward redemptions is to offer reward options that have little to no cost to your company. A few ideas:

Save money by using Point Pools for no-cost fun experiences

Create a sense of excitement and camaraderie by leveraging Point Pools for unique, low-cost experiences. For example, set a goal where employees collectively contribute points toward a fun activity, such as challenging senior leaders to participate in a playful stunt or themed activity at an upcoming All Hands meeting.

Engaging employees in this way through Point Pools keeps morale high without the need for individual Points allocations, making this approach a creative solution for when budgets are tight. 

Utilize Company Rewards (vs. traditional Rewards Marketplace)

Maximize the impact of your Points budget by offering Company Rewards instead of relying solely on a traditional third-party Rewards Marketplace. Offering low or no-cost rewards that are unique to your organization—such as extra days off, exclusive access to company events, or lunch with senior leaders—can provide high perceived value at a lower total cost. This approach extends the reach of employee Points budgets, while still allowing you to maintain a meaningful recognition program.

How can I help employees who need assistance with redemption-related questions?

To assist with redemption-related employee questions, watch the following bite-sized videos. Use the information contained within the videos to answer employee questions, or send the links directly to the employee so they can review the content themselves:

Consider adding these videos to your Company Links section via the Admin Dashboard > Branding > Company Links.

More Questions?

Do you have a question that wasn't covered in this article? Let us know! Email your question(s) to engagement@worktango.com.

Was this article helpful?

0 out of 0 found this helpful

Have more questions? Submit a request

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.