Employee of the month nomination questions a panel can judge
Thirteen questions a colleague answers in about five minutes to put someone forward with one real example.
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- About 5 minto fill in
The 13 employee of the month nomination questions
An employee of the month nomination form is what a colleague fills in to put one person forward for the award. These thirteen questions name the nominee and one criterion, then ask for a real example, what it changed and who saw it. Open them in the free form maker and rename the criteria to yours.
Who this is about
The nominee, their team and the colleague putting them forward.
- Who are you nominating? Give their full name.
- Which team or department do they work in?which teams take part.
- What is your full name?who to follow up with.
The criterion and when
One criterion per nomination, so the panel reads like with like.
- Which criterion is this nomination for?the pile it joins. Swap in your own criteria.
- When did the work you are nominating them for happen?
The example
The heart of the nomination. Two or three sentences per answer is plenty.
- Describe one specific thing they did and what the situation was.one real moment, told so the panel can picture it.
- What changed as a result of what they did?the result, ideally one anyone could check.
- Who else saw this, or where could the panel check it?a witness or a record that backs the example up.
- What made this more than the job already asks of them?where standout work parts from the everyday job.
For the panel
Three quick choices that show where each nomination came from.
- What is your working relationship to the nominee?whose view this is: manager, peer, client or self.
- Did anyone ask you to put this nomination forward?
- As far as you know, has the nominee won this award before?whether the award is reaching new people.
Anything else
Room for anything the other questions missed.
- Anything else the panel should know about this nomination?often a criterion worth adding next round.
How to run a nomination round
Send the form to everyone who can nominate, with a named window such as the first week of each month. Each nomination carries the nominator's name, so say at the top who reads them; for feedback people give without a name, use the anonymous employee questionnaire.
The panel sorts nominations by question 4 and reads each criterion's pile together. Questions 6 and 7 follow the critical incident technique: the situation, what the person did and what it led to.[1] Judge those answers against the same few points for everyone, then announce the winner with the example behind it.
To ask the whole team whether the award itself works, send the employee recognition program survey. For a rounded read of one colleague from several people, use a 360 degree feedback form.
Employee of the month nomination FAQ
How do you write an employee of the month nomination?
Choose a single moment. Describe the situation, what the person did and what changed because of it, with a rough date and anyone who saw it. Then say why it went past their normal job. Four or five sentences is plenty.
What is a good example of an employee of the month nomination?
"On 14 March two drivers called in sick before the early shift. Dana rebuilt the route plan by 6 a.m., every order left on time, and the dispatch log shows it." It names a date, an action, a result and a record.
What criteria should employee of the month use?
Four to six behaviors people can see, published before nominations open: going past the role, helping another team, catching a problem early. Match them to your values; a company culture survey shows which ones people already recognize.
Michael Hodge, survey methodology · Updated 26 September 2026 · How templates are reviewed
Sources (1)
- Flanagan, J. C. "The Critical Incident Technique." Psychological Bulletin 51(4), 1954, 327-358. apa.org (PDF)
Open the nomination form and add your criteria
Thirteen questions, about five minutes, with your criteria in question 4.
Use this template