At Camunda, we believe that recognition is more than just acknowledging good work. It's about celebrating the unique contributions, behaviours, skills, and achievements of our Camundi that drive our company's success. We define recognition as the genuine expression of appreciation for behaviours, efforts, and results that align with our F.A.I.T.H. values and support our strategic goals.

CamundiKudos is Camunda's framework for meaningful recognition, is designed to create a positive flywheel effect where appreciation becomes a natural, integral part of our daily interactions.

Our Approach: Frequent, Timely, and Value-Aligned

  1. Timely: Given promptly after the behavior or achievement occurs
  2. Specific: Clearly linked to a particular action, skill, or result
  3. Personalized: Tailored to the individual's preferences and contributions
  4. Value-aligned: Connected to our Focus, Ambition, Integrity, Talent, and Humor (F.A.I.T.H.) values
  5. Meaningful: Delivered with authenticity and a clear understanding of the impact

Through this program, we aim to:

  1. Reinforce our F.A.I.T.H. values as the cornerstone of our culture
  2. Celebrate standout achievements and behaviors that accelerate our annual goals
  3. Foster a culture of appreciation and motivation across our global remote team
  4. Attract, retain and engage talent to empower Camunda’s long-term success. 

CamundiKudos offers a range of recognition opportunities, from peer-to-peer shout-outs to significant awards for high impact contributions. This framework is a V1 to set the foundation of Recognition at Camunda. Over time, we will continue to review the program and iterate to build upon the culture of recognition. 

Why Recognition Matters to All of Us:

In our fast-paced, globally distributed work environment, recognition plays a crucial role in connecting us, motivating us, and reinforcing our shared purpose. Whether you're a manager looking to empower your team or an individual contributor seeking to understand your impact, recognition is a powerful tool that benefits us all.

For Managers:

Recognizing your team members can:

  • Boost team morale and productivity
  • Reinforce desired behaviors and outcomes
  • Strengthen team cohesion and loyalty
  • Provide clear guidance on what excellence looks like
  • Support talent retention and development

For Individual Contributors:

When your efforts are acknowledged and appreciated, it:

  • Boosts your motivation and job satisfaction
  • Provides clear feedback on what you're doing well
  • Strengthens your connections with colleagues and managers
  • Enhances your sense of purpose and alignment with Camunda's goals
  • Supports your professional growth and career development

We call these benefits our "emotional salary"—the non-monetary rewards that make our work deeply satisfying and meaningful. At Camunda, we believe this emotional connection to our work and our team is just as important as financial compensation.

By actively participating in recognition, whether giving or receiving, we all contribute to creating a more engaged, connected, and high-performing workplace. It's a win-win that elevates both individual experiences and our collective success.

Key components in V1 include:

  1. [Retain & re-ignite] Shoutouts: Peer-to-peer and Manager-to-direct recognition shared in real-time via our existing #shoutouts Slack channel
  2. Spot Recognition Awards: Monthly manager nominations for Camundi who embody our F.A.I.T.H. values
  3. Exceptional Achievement Awards: Camundi who deliver high impact, cross-team contributions that significantly advance our strategic objectives

BPMN Process

Award Guidelines:

Summarized Guidelines 

  1. Shoutouts are for everyday actions or accomplishments that exemplify Camunda's values
  2. Spot Recognition Awards are for significant contributions that exceed job expectations or notably impact team or department goals
  3. Exceptional Achievement Awards are for extraordinary, cross-functional achievements that drive strategic, company-wide results

Note: If a spot recognition/exceptional achievement award is submitted, but approvers request the award category or justification be updated or expanded, only a single re-submission will be permitted. 

Detailed Guidelines Overview

A] Shoutouts:

Description:

Shoutouts are designed for real-time, peer-to-peer or manager-to-direct recognition, or recently following the action of a Camundi to acknowledge and reinforce positive behaviours, actions, or accomplishments that demonstrate Camunda's F.A.I.T.H. values in day-to-day work.

Purpose:

Recognize and reinforce positive behaviours, actions, or accomplishments that demonstrate Camunda's F.A.I.T.H. values in day-to-day work

Frequency:

Ongoing, as deserving actions or behaviours are observed

Eligibility:

All Camundi are eligible to give and receive Shoutouts. We encourage all managers to regularly celebrate their directs

Nomination Criteria:

Scope: Contributions within the employee's regular job scope that go above and beyond expectations

Impact: Positive impact on the individual, team, or department's productivity, morale, or collaboration

Examples:

  • Consistently delivering high-quality work under tight deadlines (Focus)
  • Proactively offering to help a colleague or sharing knowledge (Talent, Integrity)
  • Bringing a positive, humorous attitude to team interactions (Humor)

Award Mechanism:

Shoutouts are shared in the dedicated #shoutouts Slack channel

Process:

Have a look here for guidance on giving shoutouts! 

Consider using a template to make your shoutout even more personalized! 

Here are some templates to inspire you! 

"I want to give a huge shoutout to @[Name] for demonstrating incredible [F.A.I.T.H. value] in [specific situation/project]. Your [specific action/behavior] made a big impact on [result/outcome]. Thank you for your amazing contribution!

"@[Name], your [specific skill/talent] shone through in [project/task]. The way you [specific action/achievement] showcased your [F.A.I.T.H. value] and directly contributed to [team/company goal]. Kudos on a job well done!"

B] Spot Recognition Awards: Live as of May 23rd!!

Description:

Spot Recognition Awards are ad-hoc manager nominations that acknowledge significant contributions or achievements that exceed job expectations, align with Camunda's values and goals, and have a notable impact on team or department objectives.

Purpose:

Acknowledge significant contributions or achievements that exceed job expectations and align with Camunda's values and goals

This award is not for:

  • Results of a project or goal with general expected outcome
  • Form of retention reward/counteroffer
  • Additional compensation to increase overall pay
  • Recognition for recurring projects/work

Frequency:

  • Monthly, as deserving contributions or achievements are completed.
  • Nominations will be reviewed in bulk during the last week of each month, assessed against equality metrics, and then approved by L-group.
  • Camundi are not eligible to receive more than 2 Spot Recognition Award per calendar year

Value (gross):EUR/USD/GBP

200

Eligibility:

All Camundi are eligible to receive Spot Recognition Awards, as nominated by their manager

Nomination Criteria:

Scope: Contributions that go beyond the employee's regular job scope and have a notable impact on team or department objectives

Impact: Significant, measurable impact on team or department performance, efficiency, or goal achievement

Examples: 

  • Implementing a process improvement that saves the department significant time or resources (Focus, Ambition)
  • Delivering an important project ahead of schedule and under budget (Focus, Talent)
  • Providing exceptional customer service that results in increased customer satisfaction or loyalty (Integrity, Talent)

Award Mechanism:

Announcement in team meeting and payout via payroll in the next available cycle post approval

Process:

Manager request:

  1. Navigate to the Bob profile of your direct report > Actions > Update profile > CamundiKudos Request (Spot Recognition)
    1. Note: Requests will be processed once a month, in the last week of the month
      1. Select "Spot Recognition Award" from the dropdown under Award Program
      2. Add an effective date:
          1.  should be added as the 1st of the following month
          2. i.e., A manager who makes a request on June 3rd, should put July 1st as the effective date
          3. Cutoff: All awards submitted from 1-23rd of the month will be processed by Total Rewards between 24-month end. Awards submitted after this date will only be processed along with the subsequent batch
      3. Add a detailed justification

          1. Provide a detailed explanation of why you believe the nominee deserves this award. Focus on the scope of their contributions and the impact they have made.

            • Scope: Describe how the nominee's contributions went beyond their regular job scope and had a notable impact on team or department objectives.
            • Impact: Explain the significant, measurable impact the nominee's contributions had on team or department performance, efficiency, or goal achievement.
      4. Add the local award value
          1. refer to this table to correctly add the award value in the Camundis local currency; 
            1. inc = USD 200
            2. Ltd = GBP 200
            3. GmbH = EUR 200
            4. Remote.com = EUR 200 but must be in the currency of the country, refer to the table below for the exact value
            5. PTE= refer to table below for local award values (currently SGD 262)


Approval Flow:

  1. 1-23 of each month:
    1. Manager enters nomination
    2. PBP reviews award for justification against criteria
  2. 24-27 of each month (3 days):
    1. Total Rewards and PBP review in bulk during the last week of the month and approve 
    2. Total Rewards checks that the Camundi has not already received 2 awards in the calendar year
    3. Total Rewards checks that the amount added is correct and aligned with nominee country
    4. Total Rewards conducts an equality check, and shares with PBPs for review/flags
    5. Total Rewards will determine budget availability and flag for FP&A + Divisional leader as needed
    6. Total Rewards will then approve/reject awards in Bob
  3. 27 to month end of each month (±3-4 days)
    1. Second-level managers are responsible for reviewing and providing final approval for CamundiKudos nominations that have been vetted by PBP and Total Rewards. Timely approvals are essential to ensure a smooth process and prompt award distribution. When reviewing nominations, consider alignment with program criteria, impact and scope of contributions, and consistency across nominations.
      1. Expect to spend 30-60 min per month on this task- a recurring calendar block on a specific day at the end of the month could be helpful. 
    2. The manager will then be notified by a Bob task of the approval, and be requested to inform the Camundi
    3. Payroll will receive an email notification of the award to ensure this is added to the relevant payroll (to note, this is present in the payroll table). 

Management:

  • Total Rewards will monitor program utilization as well as conduct equality checks.
  • FP&A will receive a report which details monthly program utilisation

C] Exceptional Achievement Awards: Coming in July 2024!

Description:

Organizational Excellence

For substantive, and significant achievements that redefine Camunda's trajectory or market position, cementing our category leadership or driving unparalleled efficiency and growth.

Strategic Excellence

Major achievements that significantly advance Camunda's strategic goals, such as expanding our market presence, driving operational excellence, or enhancing our global remote team's

Collaborative Excellence

Notable achievements that drive meaningful improvements or results across multiple teams or departments, contributing to Camunda's continuous growth and success.

Purpose:

Recognize extraordinary achievements that have a substantial, cross-functional impact and significantly advance Camunda's strategic objectives as a business

This award is not for:

  • Recognition of overall good performance
  • Form of retention reward/counteroffer
  • Additional compensation to increase overall pay
  • General teamwork recognition
  • Recognition for recurring projects

Frequency:

  • Rare, as deserving, high-impact achievements are completed
  • Camundi are not eligible to receive more than 1 one Award per calendar year and significant justification will be needed if more than one nomination is received within 12 months of the last award.

Value: (gross)EUR/USD/GBP

Organizational Excellence

4000

Strategic Excellence

2000

Collaborative Excellence

750

Eligibility:

All Camundi are eligible to receive Exceptional Achievement Awards, as nominated by their manager

Nomination Criteria:

Organizational Excellence

Scope: Transformative initiatives that span the entire organization and fundamentally elevate Camunda's competitive advantage or industry standing.

Impact: Game-changing, measurable impact on Camunda's long-term success, such as establishing clear category leadership, achieving unprecedented revenue growth, or revolutionizing our product offerings.

Strategic Excellence

Scope: Strategic projects or innovations that involve multiple departments and deliver substantial, measurable results aligned with Camunda's key objectives.

Impact: Significant, quantifiable impact on Camunda's performance, efficiency, or competitive position, such as entering new markets, optimizing critical processes, or implementing impactful employee engagement initiatives.

Collaborative Excellence

Scope: Cross-functional initiatives or projects that involve several teams and deliver tangible, measurable benefits for the involved areas.

Impact: Considerable, demonstrable impact on the performance, collaboration, or goal achievement of the involved teams or departments, such as improving key metrics, streamlining workflows, or fostering innovation.

Examples (not exhaustive and all levels are available across all departments):

Organizational Excellence

(Product/Engineering) Leading the development and launch of a groundbreaking new product feature that establishes Camunda as the undisputed leader in the process orchestration category, resulting in an increase in market share and an increase in annual revenue.

(Marketing/Sales) Developing and executing a transformative go-to-market strategy that positions Camunda as the clear choice for enterprise customers, resulting in a measurable increase in qualified leads, an increase in conversion rates, and a significant increase in average deal size.

Strategic Excellence

(People) Designing and implementing a comprehensive global remote work policy and toolkit that enhances collaboration, productivity, and well-being for all Camundi, resulting in a measurable increase in employee engagement scores, a marked reduction in attrition, and a sizeable improvement in team performance metrics.

(Finance/Operations) Leading a company-wide initiative to streamline and automate key financial processes, resulting in a measurable reduction in manual effort, significant improvement in data accuracy, and a marked increase in operational efficiency.

Collaborative Excellence

(Customer Success/Support) Implementing a cross-functional training and knowledge-sharing program that upskills team members across the Product, Engineering, and Customer Success departments, resulting in a measurable increase in product adoption, and a significant reduction in customer support tickets

(IT/Security) Leading a multi-department effort to enhance Camunda's cybersecurity infrastructure and incident response protocols, resulting in a measurable reduction in security vulnerabilities, an improvement in threat detection and response times, and an increase in compliance with industry standards.

Award Mechanism:

Awards are personal, and we do not expect managers to announce these or share broadly. Payout will take place via payroll in the next available cycle

Process:

Manager request:


  1. Navigate to the Bob profile of your direct report> Actions > Update profile > CamundiKudos Request (Exceptional Achievement)
      1. Select the award level from the dropdown under Award Program
        • EAA- Organizational Excellence
        • EAA- Strategic Excellence
        • EAA- Collaborative Excellence
      2. Add an effective date:
          1.  should be added as the 1st of the following month (dates selected that are not aligned with this date will be rejected for re-submission). Please allow 2 weeks for all approvals to flow through the system, so select an effective date which makes sense here
          2. e.g.,
            1. i.e., A manager who makes a request on June 3rd, should put July 1st as the effective date
            2. i.e., A manager who makes a request on June 15th, should put July 1st as the effective date
            3. i.e., A manager who makes a request on June 23rd, should put August 1st as the effective date
          3. All awards will be processed on a rolling basis and not in bulk as with the spot recognition award
      3. Add a detailed justification

          1. Provide a detailed explanation of why you believe the nominee deserves this award. Focus on the scope of their contributions and the impact they have made

            • EAA- Organizational Excellence

              • Scope: Transformative initiatives that span the entire organization and fundamentally elevate Camunda's competitive advantage or industry standing.

                Impact: Game-changing, measurable impact on Camunda's long-term success, such as establishing clear category leadership, achieving unprecedented revenue growth, or revolutionizing our product offerings.

            • EAA- Strategic Excellence

              • Scope: Strategic projects or innovations that involve multiple departments and deliver substantial, measurable results aligned with Camunda's key objectives.

                Impact: Significant, quantifiable impact on Camunda's performance, efficiency, or competitive position, such as entering new markets, optimizing critical processes, or implementing impactful employee engagement initiatives.

            • EAA- Collaborative Excellence

              • Scope: Cross-functional initiatives or projects that involve several teams and deliver tangible, measurable benefits for the involved areas.

                Impact: Considerable, demonstrable impact on the performance, collaboration, or goal achievement of the involved teams or departments, such as improving key metrics, streamlining workflows, or fostering innovation.



            1. Add the local award value
                1. refer to this table to correctly add the award value in the Camundis local currency; 



Approval Flow:

  1. Manager enters nomination
  2. Total Rewards and PBP review and approve (determine if an award has been received in the past 12 months)
  3. Second-Level manager approves
  4. SLT Member approves
  5. Award is added to next available payroll following final approvals

Management:

  • Total Rewards will monitor program utilization, and add each award to a budget tracker 
  • Quarterly reporting to FP&A


DRI
Wesley Hattingh 
DRTPeople Operations

  • No labels