If you’ve been asked, “Can you pull a report showing who’s being recognized the most?”—you’re in the right place. This guide is for HR pros, team leads, or anyone who needs to wrangle actual data out of Motivosity’s reporting features (without spending hours clicking around). No hype, just real steps to get the job done.
Why Bother With Recognition Reports?
Recognition reports aren’t just “nice to have.” They can show if your shout-outs are actually happening, if recognition is stuck at the manager level, or if some teams are getting left out. But Motivosity’s not always straightforward. The default dashboards are fine for a quick pulse, but real insights take a little digging.
Let’s get into how to generate detailed recognition reports in Motivosity, what you can actually do with them, and what’s mostly window dressing.
Step 1: Get the Right Access
You need the right permissions to run detailed reports. Motivosity splits users into regular employees, managers, and admins. Only admins (and sometimes managers, with limited scope) can run the full reports.
How to check: - If you see “Reports” or “Analytics” in your sidebar, you’re probably good. - If not, ask your Motivosity admin to bump up your access. Don’t bother hacking around—it’s locked down for a reason.
Pro tip: If you just want your own recognition stats, everyone can see basics on their own profile. For anything broader, you’ll need admin or manager rights.
Step 2: Navigate to the Reporting Section
Motivosity’s UI changes a bit depending on your plan (Recognition vs. full suite), but the steps are similar.
- Log into Motivosity.
- Look for a sidebar or top menu labeled “Reports,” “Analytics,” or sometimes just an icon with a chart.
- Click in. You’ll see a mix of dashboards and a “Reports” submenu. Ignore the dashboards for now—they’re nice for a glance, but short on detail.
What works: The “Reports” section gives you downloadable data, filters, and (sometimes) scheduled exports.
What doesn’t: The default dashboards are pretty, but don’t let you dig into the weeds or slice by team, date, or type.
Step 3: Pick the Right Report
Motivosity offers a bunch of reports. Most people want one of these:
- Recognition Details Report: The raw list—who recognized whom, what they said, when.
- Recognition Summary Report: Totals by person, team, or location.
- Peer-to-peer Recognition: Focuses on non-manager shout-outs (handy for checking company culture, not just top-down praise).
Ignore: “Top Givers/Receivers” widgets unless you want a popularity contest. They’re fun, but not actionable.
How to choose: For audits or deep dives, start with the Recognition Details Report. For execs or quick slides, the Summary is fine.
Step 4: Set Your Filters
Here’s where most people mess up and end up with a 5,000-row CSV.
Key filters: - Date range: Always set this. Default is usually “Last 30 days,” but you can pick custom ranges (quarter, year, etc.). - Teams/Departments: Filter for specific groups if you’re not interested in the whole company. - Recognition Type: Some companies have different categories (e.g., “Above and Beyond” vs. “Everyday Wins”). Filter if you care about those. - Giver/Receiver: Drill down if you’re checking on one person or team.
Pro tip: Start broad, then narrow down. It’s easier to re-run a filtered report than to try and make sense of a huge, unfocused data dump.
Step 5: Generate and Export the Report
Once your filters are set, it’s time to actually run the report.
- Click “Run” or “Generate.” Motivosity usually spins for a second, then shows the results on-screen.
- Export to CSV or Excel. Don’t bother with PDFs unless you like scrolling around static tables. CSV/Excel is way easier for sorting, searching, and charts.
What works: The export is pretty clean—columns for giver, receiver, date, message, and sometimes points or badges.
What doesn’t: Formatting can be inconsistent if your company has custom fields or a lot of emojis in the messages. Expect some manual cleanup.
Step 6: Review and Clean Up Your Data
Open your exported file—usually in Excel or Google Sheets.
Check for: - Weird characters: Emojis, odd spacing, and line breaks can mess up CSVs. Use “Find and Replace” or clean up as needed. - Duplicate entries: Rare, but happens if someone edits or deletes a recognition after the fact. - Empty fields: If you see lots of blanks, double-check your filters in Motivosity. Sometimes people send recognitions without messages.
Pro tip: If you’re sharing with leadership, summarize first—don’t just send over a raw dump.
Step 7: Analyze the Data
This is what separates a good report from a useless spreadsheet.
Some things to look for: - Who’s getting (and giving) the most recognition? Good for spotting over- or under-engaged teams. - Peer vs. manager recognition: Is recognition spread around, or mostly top-down? - Trends over time: Are recognitions up or down this month? Any dips after a big event? - Recognition content: Are messages specific or generic? (You can spot “thanks!” vs. “really nailed the Q2 project.”)
What to ignore: Don’t get too hung up on raw numbers. Quality > quantity. If one person is “winning” by a mile, dig deeper—sometimes it just means they’re the office extrovert.
Step 8: Share (and Schedule) Reports
Most of the time, you’ll want to share your findings. Motivosity lets you schedule reports to send automatically, but honestly, these are only useful if your audience actually reads them.
How to share: - Email a cleaned-up Excel or Google Sheet. Include a summary tab or a few quick charts. - Present highlights: Use real examples (anonymized, if needed) to show what good recognition looks like. - Schedule auto-exports: If you have recurring needs, set up monthly or quarterly exports in Motivosity. Don’t rely on this for engagement—people ignore auto-emails fast.
Pro tip: Follow up with context. A spreadsheet alone rarely tells the story.
Step 9: Iterate and Improve
Pulling a recognition report once is fine. Doing it regularly is where you spot real patterns—and where you can actually make changes.
- Ask for feedback: Did the report spark action, or just fill an inbox?
- Tweak your filters: Maybe you care less about sheer volume and more about cross-team shout-outs.
- Automate what you can: But don’t automate insight. The best stuff comes from actually reading the messages now and then.
Honest Takes: What Works, and What to Ignore
- Motivosity reporting is solid for basic numbers and trends. If you need deep analytics or custom visualizations, you’ll need to export and use Excel/Sheets.
- Ignore the “gamification” widgets. Fun, but not helpful for real insights.
- Recognition content matters more than count. If your reports are all “Good job!” with no details, the culture piece is missing.
- Don’t obsess over monthly leaderboards. It can turn recognition into a contest instead of a genuine gesture.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Generating detailed recognition reports in Motivosity isn’t rocket science, but it does take a few extra clicks and some cleanup. Focus on what actually helps you and your team: who’s being recognized, who isn’t, and what the messages say. Don’t overthink it—start simple, see what’s useful, and adjust as you go.
Recognition should be a tool, not a chore. Pull your first report, look for a story in the numbers, and keep tweaking until it’s actually helpful. That’s where the real value is.