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Setting Up Automated Rewards

Automatically send rewards for birthdays and work anniversaries

Tahera Barok McArthur avatar
Written by Tahera Barok McArthur
Updated over a week ago

Configure Mo to automatically reward colleagues on special occasions, saving time and ensuring consistent recognition for milestones.

Purpose: Automate birthday and work anniversary rewards so no milestone goes unrecognised.

Note: You need Rewards Admin permissions to set up automated rewards.

What Are Automated Rewards?

Automated rewards send recognition automatically when:

  • Colleague's birthday occurs

  • Colleague's work anniversary occurs

Benefits:

  • Never miss recognising a milestone

  • Consistent recognition across the organisation

  • Time-saving for managers and HR

  • Scalable recognition programme

  • Fair treatment for all colleagues

How it works:

  • Mo monitors occasion dates

  • Automatically creates and sends reward Moment on the date

  • Reward appears publicly in feed (or privately if colleague hides occasions)

  • Colleague receives reward notification

  • Store credit or points added to their balance

Before You Start

Prerequisites

System setup required:

  • Occasion dates entered for users (birthdays, work anniversaries)

  • Budget created for automated rewards

  • Spending pot created within that budget

  • Reward types created and assigned to spending pot

  • Sender identified and added to spending pot

Recommended approach: Create dedicated budget, spending pot, and

reward types specifically for automated rewards to keep them

separate from manual recognition.

Planning considerations:

  • Which occasions to automate (birthdays, work anniversaries, or both)

  • Who should receive automated rewards (everyone or specific groups)

  • Reward values appropriate for occasions

  • Message content and tone

  • Who the sender should be

Required Setup Guides

If you haven't set up the rewards structure yet:

Accessing Automated Rewards Setup

  1. From 'Manage Organisations', go to the Rewards

  2. Select Reward Automation option under Reward Set up

  3. Click Set up an automation button near bottom of screen

From this page you can:

  • View existing automations

  • Create new automations

  • Manage active automations

  • Access automation logs

Creating an Automated Reward

The setup form has three main sections:

Section 1: Automation Settings

Configure which occasion triggers the reward and who receives it.

What's the Occasion? Choose the trigger event:

  • Birthdays - Sends reward on colleague's birthday

  • Work Anniversaries - Sends reward on anniversary of start date

Who Should Receive It? Select recipients:

  • Everyone - All colleagues with occasion dates in Mo

  • Customise - Specific groups based on your Mo data (department, location, etc.)

Customisation options: Use your organisation's groups to target specific populations:

  • By department (e.g., only Sales team)

  • By location (e.g., only UK offices)

  • By any custom groupings you've configured in Mo

For group configuration, see Managing User Groups.

Reward Details Help manage multiple automations:

  • Name - Descriptive name (e.g., "Birthday Rewards - All Staff", "5 Year Anniversary")

  • Description - Short note explaining the automation's purpose

Section 2: Reward Information

Select the budget, spending pot, and reward type to use.

Budget Selection Choose the budget funding these automated rewards:

  • Select from your existing budgets

  • Recommended: Dedicated budget for automated rewards

Spending Pot Selection Choose the spending pot within that budget:

  • Select from pots within your chosen budget

  • Critical: Ensure the sender (next section) is added to this pot

  • Recommended: Dedicated pot for automated occasions

Reward Type Selection Choose which reward to send:

  • Select from reward types assigned to your chosen pot

  • If using currency: Shows monetary value (e.g., £25)

  • If using points: Shows points value (e.g., 250 points)

  • Consider appropriate values for the occasion type

Section 3: Post Information

Customise the Moment that accompanies the automated reward.

Message Content Write the message colleagues will see:

  • Personalise the occasion greeting

  • Keep tone warm and genuine

  • Acknowledge the milestone

  • Can include merge fields for personalisation

Example messages:

  • Birthday: "Happy Birthday! Wishing you a wonderful day and year ahead. Enjoy this reward!"

  • Work Anniversary: "Congratulations on [X] years with us! Thank you for your continued contributions. Celebrate with this reward!"

Visual Content (Optional) Enhance the Moment:

  • Add GIF - Celebratory animations

  • Add image - Birthday or anniversary imagery

  • Add video - Personal message or celebration video

  • Add Moment card - Themed visual design

Company Values Select relevant values this aligns with:

  • Recognition

  • People First

  • Celebration

  • Any custom values

Sender Choose who the Moment appears to come from:

  • Individual person (CEO, HR Director, Manager)

  • Generic account (HR Team, Recognition Team)

Important: This sender must be added to the spending pot

selected in Section 2 to be selected.

Visibility Automated rewards are sent as:

  • Public Moments - Visible to all colleagues (default)

  • Private Moments - Only if recipient has hidden their occasions in profile settings

Grouping: All occasion Moments for the same person on the same day are grouped together in their occasion feed.


Finalising Your Automation

Review and Create

  1. Review all three sections for accuracy

  2. Verify sender is in spending pot

  3. Check message content and tone

  4. Ensure budget has sufficient funds

  5. Click create automation button at bottom

After Creation

Once created:

  • Automation appears at top of automation directory

  • Automatically active (toggled on)

  • Runs starting next calendar day

  • Sends rewards on matching occasions

If you are not ready to run the automation: Toggle the automation off using the switch on the left until you're ready to activate.


Managing Your Automations

Automation Directory

From the Reward Automation page, you can:

View All Automations:

  • See list of all configured automations

  • Check active/inactive status

  • Review occasion type and recipients

  • See associated rewards

Common Actions:

Toggle On/Off:

  • Switch on left side of each automation

  • On: Active and sending rewards

  • Off: Paused, not sending rewards

Edit Automation:

  • Click to open automation details

  • Modify any of the three sections

  • Update message, reward, or recipients

  • Save changes

Duplicate Automation:

  • Copy existing automation

  • Modify for different group or occasion

  • Saves time setting up similar automations

  • Useful for different departments or locations

Delete Automation:

  • Remove automations no longer needed

  • Permanent action - cannot be undone

  • Stops all future automated rewards from this rule

Access Automation Log:

  • View history of all attempted automations

  • See successful sends

  • Identify any failures

  • Troubleshoot issues


Automation Timing and Execution

When Automations Run

Schedule:

  • Automations check daily for matching occasions

  • Rewards sent on the actual occasion date

  • Runs automatically without manual intervention

Time of execution:

  • Processes during early morning hours

  • Rewards appear in recipients' accounts during their morning

  • Notification sent when reward is issued

First execution:

  • New automations start the next calendar day after creation

  • Won't send retroactively for past dates

  • Only processes forward-going occasions

Occasion Date Requirements

For automation to work:

  • Colleague must have occasion date in their Mo profile

  • Date must be visible (or will send privately if hidden)

  • Colleague must have active Mo account

  • Sender must have access to spending pot


Best Practices

Budget and Spending Pot Strategy

Dedicated resources:

  • Create separate budget for automated rewards

  • Prevents conflict with manual recognition

  • Easier tracking and reporting

  • Clear cost attribution

Adequate funding:

  • Calculate expected annual cost (employees × reward value × occasions)

  • Include buffer for growth

  • Monitor utilisation regularly

  • Adjust budget as needed

Example calculation:

  • 100 employees

  • £25 birthday reward (or 250 points)

  • £25 work anniversary reward (or 250 points)

  • 2 occasions per employee = 200 rewards per year

  • Budget needed: £5,000 annually (or 50,000 points)

Message Best Practices

Effective occasion messages:

  • Personal and warm tone

  • Acknowledge the specific occasion

  • Express genuine appreciation

  • Brief but meaningful

  • Consistent with company voice

Avoid:

  • Generic, impersonal messages

  • Overly formal or corporate tone

  • Messages that feel automated

  • Incorrect occasion references

Sender Selection

Good sender choices:

  • CEO or leadership (adds weight)

  • HR Director (appropriate for milestones)

  • Recognition Team account (if you have one)

  • Department head (for department-specific automations)

Ensure sender:

  • Has appropriate seniority for the occasion

  • Is added to the spending pot

  • Account is active and maintained

Multiple Automation Strategy

Common approaches:

By occasion type:

  • Separate automation for birthdays

  • Separate automation for work anniversaries

  • Allows different messages and rewards

By employee group:

  • Different automations per department

  • Location-based automations

  • Seniority-based (different rewards for 5, 10, 15 years)

By reward value:

  • Standard birthday reward for all

  • Tiered anniversary rewards (5 years, 10 years, etc.)

  • Different rewards for different groups


Troubleshooting

Automation Not Sending Rewards

Check these factors:

  • Automation is toggled ON (active)

  • Occasion date exists in colleague's profile

  • Colleague hasn't hidden their occasions (if checking public Moments)

  • Sender is added to the spending pot

  • Spending pot has available budget

  • Budget hasn't been exhausted

  • Reward type is assigned to the spending pot

Solutions:

  • Verify automation status

  • Check colleague profile has correct dates

  • Confirm sender access to spending pot

  • Review budget availability

  • Check automation log for errors

Colleagues Not Receiving Notifications

Possible causes:

  • Email notifications disabled

  • Occasion hidden in profile (sent privately)

  • Account inactive

  • Notification delay

Solutions:

  • Check colleague's notification settings

  • Verify occasion visibility settings

  • Ensure account is active

  • Wait for notification processing (can take minutes)

Wrong Reward or Amount

Issues:

  • Incorrect reward type selected

  • Wrong spending pot chosen

  • Using currency when should be points (or vice versa)

Resolution:

  • Edit the automation

  • Select correct reward type

  • Verify spending pot configuration

  • Save changes for future sends

Budget Depleted Quickly

Causes:

  • More colleagues than expected

  • Reward value too high

  • Multiple automations drawing from same budget

  • Anniversary clustering (many hires same month)

Solutions:

  • Increase budget allocation

  • Review and adjust reward values

  • Stagger automations or separate budgets

  • Monitor spending more frequently

  • Plan for seasonal hiring patterns


Monitoring and Reporting

Automation Log

Access the log to review:

  • All attempted automated rewards

  • Successful sends with details

  • Failed attempts with reasons

  • Date and time of each automation

  • Recipient information

  • Associated reward details

Use the log to:

  • Verify automations are working

  • Identify patterns or issues

  • Track programme costs

  • Audit reward distribution

  • Troubleshoot problems

Regular Reviews

Monthly checks:

  • Review automation log for issues

  • Verify budget utilisation

  • Check colleague feedback

  • Ensure automations still appropriate

Quarterly reviews:

  • Analyse cost and volume trends

  • Assess reward values still appropriate

  • Review message content effectiveness

  • Update automations as needed

  • Plan budget for next period

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