How do Kudos Points Work?

This article is an overview of all the different types of Kudos points and some of the situations/questions that commonly arise when using them.

Kudos Points Basics

Points to Give: These points are yours to send to your peers, and are replenished every month. The allocated number of points is determined by your Kudos Administrator and is based on your job title in the system.

Points Balance: The number of Kudos points you have accumulated. It's a total of all the Kudos points you have received to date, minus any redemptions.

Points All-time: The total number of Kudos points you have accumulated, including points you have redeemed.

Sent Kudos Points Cannot Be Revoked

Once a Kudos message is sent, it cannot be revoked if there was a mistake. You can change the message from Public to Private so that the message no longer appears on the Wall. Then, any points sent by accident can be manually redeemed by an Administrator. These points are not redeemed for a reward, but are instead removed from the accidental recipient's Points Balance.

Unused 'Points to Give' Expire at the End of the Month

On the first day of every month at 12:00am GMT, your 'Points to Give' balance will refresh. Any unused points from the previous month will be gone, and your new balance in 'Points to Give' will be the number of points you are allocated.

If you gave away all your 'Points to Give' you can still send recognition messages without points. 

Only a Percentage of Your 'Points to Give' Can Be Sent to the Same Person in a Month Period

The system won't let you give more than a percentage of your 'Points to Give' to the same user in the same month, this is called the Too Much Love rule. If you try to do so, the system will alert you that the message will be sent with no points.

The chart below shows an example of the percentage of points you can send depending on your points allocation:

*If Allocation is greater than 50 but less than 100, users can send a maximum of 50 Points. For Allocations over 100, Max Points can be calculated by using the formula: MAX = 50 + ((Allocation - 100) / 50) * 20

External Kudos Messages Do Not Use Points

If you send a Kudos message to someone outside of your Kudos account (by typing in their email address), they will still receive the recognition and Kudos level ("Thank You", "Impressive", etc.), but they won't receive any points. If you send a Kudos message to multiple people — some external and some internal — the message will be sent with no points for anyone.

Can I Choose to Send Points From My 'Points Balance'?

No, if you run out of 'Points to Give' your recognition message will send with no points.

Note: If you are not allocated any 'Points to Give', but have received points from other users, you cannot send these points.

Can I Get a 'Points to Give' Override?

If you feel you need more monthly allocated points than you were assigned with your job title, you can contact your administrator and ask them to set an individual override for you.

What Is My 'Points Balance' Redeemable For?

That depends on the program set up by your Administrator. Contact them to find out if you have a KudosRewards™ or Custom Rewards program.

We hope this helps! If you have any questions, please post a comment below and one of our friendly team members will be happy to assist you.