Recognition
The A*stars recognition portal is an online tool designed to make it easy for everyone at Amey to thank others for doing a great job or nominate them for an A*stars award.
Recognition Portal Information and FAQs
Whether it’s for providing exceptional support or for completing superb work, we want everyone at Amey to show appreciation for colleagues by celebrating their achievements and contributions.
There are different ways you can recognise someone:
- send an e*card (there are 3 types)
- nominate someone for a £25 A*stars Individual Award
- nominate someone for a Quarterly or Annual Award
You can find out more about the types of awards on the A*stars Recognition Portal and by viewing the 'How to...' videos.
There are answers to Frequently Asked Questions below which will help you to navigate around this process.
For issues relating to portal access or voucher redemption, please e-mail Points@Motivates.co.uk
Please note that only permanent Amey employees have access to the A*stars Recognition Portal.
Congratulations!
1 Point is the equivalent to £1. Points can be redeemed via the Reward Store in the Recognition Portal.
You can send an e*card to any colleague who has registered on the Recognition Portal. If your colleague is not on the Recognition Portal and does not have an Amey e-mail address, please reach out to them or their manager to encourage them to register!
Only Amey employees are eligible to register on the portal and are eligible to receive recognition. Contractors are not eligible to receive recognition through the Amey A*stars Recognition Portal.
It is up to the nominator to decide whether the award should be provided through an e*card, or A*stars Individual Award. However, the approving manager also needs to review and decide on whether the reason provided is a legitimate reason to receive an A*stars Award.
If you, as an approving manager, feel the award can be best sent as an e*card, you can deny the award and advise in the comments to process as an e*card instead.
This message will then be sent to the nominator.
You can redeem your points by accessing the A*stars recognition portal, and navigating to the Reward Store.
If your award is not approved, you will receive a notification via e-mail and on the portal with a reason provided by the approving manager. If you require further information, you can reach out to that manager directly for further information.
Yes, it is possible to donate your award value to Amey's chosen charity of choice - Cancer Research UK. You can do this when redeeming your award.
No, you can spend £5, £10 or £20 instead of the points awarded; it is really up to you!
Your points will not expire as long as you continue to be an employee of Amey. If you leave Amey voluntarily, or involuntarily you must redeem all your points prior to leaving. Failure to do so will mean forfeiting your accrued points.
A comprehensive list of all the available lifestyle vouchers available to redeem your points for is available to view here: https://www.thelifestylevoucher.co.uk/lifestyle-brands/
Yes, the portal is smartphone compatible, just type in the recognition URL - recognition.amey.co.uk to navigate to the site to log-in and start recognising!
No, you can access the portal without being on the Amey network, as long as your have your Employee ID, registered e-mail address and password!
In order to receive an award or nominate a colleague, you must be registered on the portal.
In order to make use of any remaining points in your A*stars account balance, you must redeem this prior to leaving the organisation. Any points left in the system after leaving the organisation will be forfeited.
No, you do not have to notify your manager. The nominee's manager will receive a notification to review and approve the award.
It is possible to nominate multiple colleagues for the same award.
Simply search for each individual name you wish to nominate when completing the request to nominate multiple colleagues.
Currently, the maximum value available to nominate to colleagues is 25 Points (£25). However, if you feel the work completed went above and beyond an A*stars Individual Award, make sure you nominate your colleague for the Quarterly and Annual Awards by selecting 'Yes' in the drop down when processing the nomination.
A*stars Awards requires the nominee's manager - Level 1, and manager (min Band D) - Level 2 approval. If the approving manager is already a Band D, then the L1 and L2 approval will both be with them.
You can send an A*stars award to anyone in the organisation, not just those in your team!
There is no limit of how many A*stars Individual Awards you can receive a year.
There is no limit of how many people you can nominate a year and you can nominate your colleagues as often as you like if they continue to achieve great results, or demonstrate Amey values!
Remember, the nominee's manager will have to approve the nomination before the award is given for any A*stars Awards.
Unfortunately not. However, the tool is very simple to use and allows for instant automatic recognition!
You can access your e*card via the e-mail link provided when your were nominated as well as being able to view it in the Recognition Portal.
You will be notified through the portal and via email when your nomination of a colleague has been approved. You can also view the status of your recognition by accessing the My Activity page under the My Account link on the navigation tab.
Only A*stars Awards will be visible to managers, e*cards are not. If you have received an e*card from a colleague, make sure you share your success with your manager directly!
Only A*stars Awards will feature on the recognition wall, with the nominee, nominator and reason visible.
Please be mindful of this when writing the reason for the award.
You will not be notified if you have been put forward for the Quarterly or Annual Awards. However, you will be notified if you have been successfully awarded either award!
All Quarterly awards are also put forward for the Annual Awards too. Therefore, it is possible to receive both a Quarterly Award, and an Annual Award!
No, not all awards are put forward for the Quarterly or Annual Awards. If the nominator of the award believes the value or results you have demonstrated are above and beyond an Individual Award, they have the opportunity to nominate you for the Quarterly or Annual Awards.
Annual Awards are shortlisted each year, and are selected by everyone at Amey.
Information on the different types of awards available can be found here in the FAQ section, or directly on the Recognition Portal.
Employees will receive a A*stars Milestone Certificate each year on their anniversary date. This will automatically be generated by the system and the receiver will be notified of the event via e-mail, as will the manager!
If, through policy, you are eligible to receive points for A*stars Milestones, these will be automatically added to your account balance within the portal on the anniversary day.
If you are an offline employee, you must be registered on the portal to be able to receive your Milestone Certificate, and any accompanying vouchers.
Yes, as a Manager you will be notified of up and coming A*stars Milestones to remind you of the event via e-mail, and on the portal.
Yes, as a Manager you can access the Admin area to see all approvals and certificates, including those for A*stars Milestones.
You are able to see any awards that have been approved by you in the Admin section of the tool for your direct reports. However, e*cards provided to direct reports are not able to be seen directly in the tool by the individual's manager.
It is not possible to provide a physical award outside the system and it is highly encouraged that all recognition is processed through the A*stars Recognition Portal.
Redemption of the Offline Award can only be completed by the requesting manager. The points are to be redeemed in the Reward Store, and the voucher provided directly to the individual being recognised.
Offline Awards require Level 2 approval. The reason you are requesting the award can be provided when requesting the award.
It is recommended to speak to your level 2 approver (your direct Manager if they are Amey Band D or above, or your Manager +1 if your direct Manager is an Amey band C or below) prior to submitting to ensure the award approval is not delayed.
The Team award has been designed to be able to reward your team collectively for collective exceptional performance. This award could be utilised to order some food via Just Eat, Pizza Hut or grabbing some sweet treats from Greggs, for example.
The Team Award requires Level 2 approval (your direct Manager if they are Amey Band D or above, or your Manager +1 if your direct Manager is an Amey band C or below). It would be recommended to discuss this request with them before requesting this award on the portal to ensure quick approval for a timely recognition!
Team Awards require Level 2 approval.
Team Award points are automatically provided to your account as the requesting manager on the A*stars Recognition Portal once approved. To redeem the points, you will need to navigate to the Reward Store, and redeem the points for a lifestyle voucher that best suits the type of recognition you wish to provide.
Yes, once approved the A*stars certificate can be accessed by navigating to the Admin > Star Awards > Approved section of the portal.
Yes, you can preview the A*stars certificate before approving the award, but this will show a zero value as it has yet to be approved. Once approved, this can then be downloaded and presented to your colleague after approval if you would like to make the award that little bit more personal! However, the nominee will also receive a copy of the award via e-mail, and it can also be accessed on the portal too!
Please note, no certificates are provided for Offline Awards. It is highly encouraged that you provide a certificate alongside the voucher when presenting the award, the template for the A*stars Individual Award is available here.
If you deny an award, a message is sent to the nominator with the reason of why you have denied the award. The individual being nominated will not be notified if you have denied an award.
If you nominate one of your direct reports for an A*stars Individual Award, you will also need to approve the award as a Level 1 approver.
If you are an Amey Band D or above, you will also have approve again as a Level 2 approver.
To approve an award, navigate to the Recognition Portal, click on the Admin section at the top of the page, and you will be able to see how many awards are pending your approval. If you click on the award type, you will be taken to the approval page where you can review the award and then approve, deny, or preview the certificate.