Reimagine recognition: Nomination Agent
How AI is transforming nomination-based award programmes
Recognition has always fueled engagement. The moments that matter most in an organisation are often the ones when leaders and peers pause to say, “You made a difference.”
Nomination-based award programmes capture those moments, spotlighting innovation, leadership, and teamwork that drive business outcomes. But even the most inspiring recognition programmes can be slowed down by manual processes, inconsistent evaluation, and bias.
The problem with traditional nomination programmes
Traditional nomination programmes often rely on manual review and subjective judgment. Administrators spend hours sorting through hundreds of submissions, often without a clear, data-driven way to identify the strongest nominations. Without that structure, bias can unintentionally creep into the process, influencing outcomes and eroding trust in the programme’s fairness.
The result? Delayed approvals and missed opportunities to celebrate the people moving the business forward. Recognition should feel inspiring, not overwhelming.
Why it matters
Recognition isn’t just a feel-good moment; it’s a business driver. When done right, it reinforces values, builds trust, and strengthens culture. But when recognition feels inconsistent or unfair, it can weaken engagement and participation.
To maximise impact, organisations need a smarter, fairer way to evaluate nominations, one that connects employee contributions to business outcomes and eliminates bias from the process.
Introducing Nomination Agent
That’s why BI WORLDWIDE developed Nomination Agent, an AI-powered solution designed to simplify the nomination review process and highlight submissions that truly reflect organisational values and measurable outcomes.
Built using IBM watsonx, Nomination Agent uses advanced language models to evaluate nominations against defined criteria, rank submissions by quality and relevance, and present the most meaningful contributions to programme administrators and review panels.
By analysing nominations through a consistent, data-driven lens, the system helps reduce potential bias, increases confidence in results, and ensures the most deserving and outcome-driven contributions stand out.
The result: faster decisions, greater equity, and more confidence in every award without the manual review.
The business impact
1. Streamline administrative workflows
Managing a nomination-based recognition programme is rewarding but time-consuming. Each programme cycle can generate hundreds of submissions, each representing meaningful work. Nomination Agent automatically screens, ranks, and highlights top entries based on programme-specific criteria.
This automation reduces manual effort, ensures consistency across evaluations, and makes it easier to identify the nominations that best represent organisational impact.
Takeaway: Transform the nomination process with intelligent automation that saves time and simplifies decision-making. In pilot programmes, administrators reported saving up to 70% of their time per nomination cycle, allowing them to focus on value-added activities instead of mundane manual tasks.
2. Increase confidence and fairness in manager reviews
For managers, reviewing nominations should be energising, not stressful. Nomination Agent’s AI-driven evaluation helps surface the nominations that demonstrate business impact and organisational values.
By removing inconsistency and reducing potential bias, managers can focus on celebrating success with confidence, knowing each recognition decision is grounded in fairness.
Takeaway: Empower managers with equitable, data-informed decision-making. When recognition feels fair, employees are 11.8x more likely to report a strong sense of belonging.1
3. Elevate culture through fair and meaningful recognition
Nomination Agent brings together behavioural science, AI technology, and human insight to make recognition faster, fairer, and more meaningful.
By creating a transparent and inclusive nomination process, organisations can promote participation, build trust, and strengthen their culture of recognition.
Takeaway: When employees believe good work will be recognised, they’re 7.5x more likely to describe their company culture as great.2
Looking ahead
AI isn’t replacing human judgment; it’s enhancing it. Nomination Agent gives leaders the tools to make recognition smarter, faster, and more equitable. Because recognition should always inspire, not overwhelm.
Learn more about Elevate Intelligence at https://www.biworldwide.com/uk/elevate/
1 The New Rules of Engagement®, BI WORLDWIDE, 2024
2 The New Rules of Engagement®, BI WORLDWIDE, 2024