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How to Give or Award Points to Employees

Points can be awarded manually through shout-outs, automatically,  or one-off by an Admin — here's how each method works

There are three ways employees can receive points in goHappy Rewards: automatically through configured automations (birthdays, anniversaries, survey completions), through a Shout-Out from a leader or peer, or manually by an Admin through the Point Balances page

Awarding Points Through a Shout-Out

A Shout-Out is the primary way leaders and peers recognize employees day-to-day — and if your organization has configured point awards for Shout-Outs, points are awarded at the same time the recognition is given.

Who can give a Shout-Out with points?

  • Managers and Admins — always have the ability to give Shout-Outs
  • Peers (employees) — can give Shout-Outs with points if your organization has granted that permission
  • Shout outs can also be given without points

How to give a Shout-Out with points

From a mobile browser:

  1. Open your goHappy Hub link on your mobile browser(text Hub or Menu to your company's goHappy number). You've likely received messages from this number before and have it saved as a contact in your phone.
  2. Scroll to the Recognition / Shout-Outs section and then click "Give a Shout-Out".
  3. Select the employee you want to recognize.
  4. Write your Shout-Out message
  5. Select an award amount from the available options (the amounts shown are based on your organization's configured tiers)
  6. Submit the Shout-Out — the employee receives both the recognition and the points instantly

From a desktop browser (Admins and Managers):

  1. Log in to goHappy on your computer
  2. Navigate to The Hub → Recognition. Click Give a Shout-Out
  3. Select the employee you want to recognize
  4. Write your Shout-Out message
  5. Select an award amount from the available options
  6. Submit the Shout-Out — the employee receives both the recognition and the points instantly

💡 Tip: The award amounts shown during a Shout-Out are set by your Admin in the Reward Automation settings. Depending on your setup, you may see a single fixed amount or multiple tiers to choose from (e.g., "Good Job" = 1000 points, "Above and Beyond" = 2500 points).

💡 Monthly Budget: Each person who gives Shout-Outs has a monthly point budget set by your Admin. Once that budget is used up for the month, it resets at the start of the next month.

Method 2: Manually Awarding or Removing Points (Admins Only)

Account Admins can manually add or remove points from any employee's redeemable balance at any time. This is useful for one-time awards, contest winners, special recognition, or correcting a balance error.

How to manually add or remove points

  1. From the main navigation, click The Hub
  2. Select Recognition
  3. Click the Rewards tab
  4. In the left navigation under Manage, click Point Balances
  5. Find the employee in the table
  6. Click Manage under the Available to Redeem column for that employee
  7. The Manage Redeemable Points modal will open

In the modal:

  • Toggle between Add Points and Remove Points
  • The employee's current Available to Redeem balance is shown for reference — along with the dollar equivalent
  • Enter the number of Points to Add (or remove) in the field — the dollar value updates automatically as you type
  • Enter a Reason — this field is required and the note will be visible to the employee in their transaction history, so write it clearly
  • Click Add Points (or Remove Points) to confirm

💡 Example: Entering 500 points shows "500 Points = $5.00" so you always know the dollar value before confirming.

⚠️ Important: The Reason you enter is visible to the employee in their transaction history. Use a clear, professional description — for example, "Culture contest winner" or "Special recognition — Q1 performance."

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I give a Shout-Out without awarding points? Yes. Points are optional on Shout-Outs depending on your organization's setup. You can recognize someone with a message even if no points are attached.

Will the employee know why they received manual points? Yes. The Reason entered by the Admin is visible to the employee in their transaction history when they view their account.