Processing Approvals for Pending Recognitions

Responding to recognitions in pending approval queues is arguably one of the most important things a manager can do in a recognition program. The timely celebration of an achievement is a critical element to successful recognition. By quickly approving or declining pending recognitions, managers protect the recognition from the deflating bottleneck the approval queue can become. Respond quickly to approval requests and keep the recognition closely tied to the action being celebrated. 

Quick Fix

1. Log in to your account
2. Click the bell icon to the left of your name in the top right corner of the screen
3. Review pending recognitions individually
4. Approve or decline the pending recognitions 

Step by Step Instructions

To begin, log in to your account and click the bell icon to the left of your name in the top right corner of the screen. You will be brought to your pending approvals page and will be presented with a list of recognitions pending your approval.

Once on the pending approvals page, expand the recognitions by clicking the arrow on the left of the recognition or by clicking the icons to the right of the "Program" column header. Once the recognition is expanded, you will be able to view the sender, the recipient, the reason for recognition, the recognition amount, the program the recognition is in, any tags attached to the recognition, if the recognition carries a monetary value, and the budget information. Use the search bar at the top to search for recognitions to approve by date, program, nominator, recipient, budget, and approvers.

In this view, you will be able to adjust the value of the award if the recognition is part of a program that allows monetary recognitions. The budget may also be changed to any budget the approver has access to. You may also add a comment to the Events Log for any other approvers to reference. Once you are satisfied with the recognition details, you may approve the award. Depending on your platform settings, the recognition will either be sent to the recipient or will continue up the approvals ladder. If you would like to decline the recognition, click decline and enter your reason for declining the recognition. Depending on your platform settings, your response entered here may be sent back to the sender.

Repeat this process with all remaining pending approvals. 

Admin Visibility

Any user of the platform classified as an admin will have visibility of all approvals in pending status organization wide. They are able to take action to approve or decline. Admins also have the super approve button available to them. By clicking Super Approve on the action dropdown, the nomination will skip any additional approvals and will immediately send the recognition to the recipient. An optional note can be added as well.The note will show in the Response section of the Recognition Status Report. The Last Approver will also show the admin that Super Approved. However, it will not indicate that it was Super Approved. If enabled in Recognition Program settings, the submitter of recognitions will be able to see any declined recognitions and the corresponding reasoning.

Admins also have the ability to edit the approvers for individual recognitions. By selecting the action dropdown, the option to Super Approve, Edit Approvers, and Decline will appear. Add or edit approvers and optionally leave a note that will show in the event log. When an approver is added, they will receive the Recognition Needs Approval email if indicated in the program setup. Note: this is editing individual recognitions and is a one-time change. Any permanent changes to the approval workflow will need to be done in the recognition program settings.

If you have any questions, please contact our Awardco Support Team.