Manage Leaderboards

Build Empuls leaderboards with custom scoring rules, manage categories and exclusions, control visibility, and drive engagement through gamified competitions.

Leaderboards in Empuls turn employee engagement into a transparent, gamified experience. Employees earn engagement credits for specific platform actions — recognising peers, completing learning modules, participating in wellness challenges — and their cumulative scores determine their ranking. Open the leaderboard hub in your tenant at https://<your-empuls-url>/home/manage-leaderboard. Admins configure which activities earn credits, how frequently scores reset, how many winners to spotlight, and whether to attach monetary milestone rewards. This page covers how to create and manage custom leaderboards, including the Gamezone feature for milestone-based incentives.

How leaderboards work

Every action an employee takes on Empuls can be associated with an engagement credit score. These are non-monetary points that measure participation — they are separate from the reward points employees redeem in the shop.

• Admins assign credit values to specific events (posting recognition, welcoming a new joiner, completing a profile, etc.).
• Employees accumulate credits over a game period (monthly, quarterly, or annually).
• Their total score ranks them against peers in the leaderboard’s participant group.
• At the end of each period, the top-ranked employees are announced on the group feed.
• If milestone-based rewards are configured, employees can claim or automatically receive reward points when their score crosses defined thresholds.

Create a custom leaderboard

1. Navigate to Manage Leaderboard

   Go to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard and click + Create Leaderboard.

2. Add leaderboard details

   Fill in the following fields:

   • Leaderboard Name: A descriptive name visible to employees (e.g., “Recognition Champions Q3”).
   • Description: A brief explanation of the leaderboard’s purpose.
   • Score Name: The label shown to employees for their accumulated score (e.g., “Stars”, “Recognition Points”).
   • Winner Title: The label for the top-ranked employee (e.g., “Champion”).
   • Start Date: When the leaderboard becomes active.
   • Number of Winners: How many top performers to highlight in the winner announcement.
   • Reset Frequency: How often scores reset — monthly (1st of every month), quarterly (1st of every quarter), or annually. Choose carefully: the reset frequency cannot be changed after the leaderboard is active.
3. Define events

   Add at least two events that award credits. You can select from events already configured for your default leaderboard, or create new custom events.

   To create a custom event:

   1. Enter the event name and click Add New Event.
   2. Enter an Event Code (a short identifier used for bulk score uploads), the Recommended Score, and the Event Type.
   3. Click Submit.

   Credit values for any event can be edited later without rebuilding the entire leaderboard.

4. Define members

   Use the dropdown to select the group whose members will participate in this leaderboard. You can also check Winner Publishing Setting to automatically post winner announcements on the selected group’s feed.

5. Configure rewards (optional)

   If you want to attach monetary rewards to leaderboard performance, click Yes when prompted. You’ll set up milestone-based rewards in the next step. If you only want a non-monetary leaderboard (ranking and recognition only), click No to finish.

6. Create the leaderboard

   Click Create. The leaderboard is created in an inactive state. Toggle the activation switch to make it live for participants.

Set up milestone-based rewards

Milestone-based rewards attach monetary reward points to score thresholds on an active leaderboard. When employees hit a milestone score, they receive points — either automatically or by claiming them manually.

1. Open the leaderboard for editing

   Go to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard, click the leaderboard you want to modify, and select the Edit option.

2. Navigate to the rewards step

   Click Continue through the Leaderboard Details and Define Events steps, and through the Define Members step, until you reach Configure Rewards. Select Yes.

3. Choose a rewarding criteria

   Select how milestone scores are measured:

   • Score for a game period: Milestones are evaluated at the end of each reset period. Rewards are issued automatically when a milestone is achieved at period end.
   • Score across multiple game periods: The leaderboard tracks cumulative scores across several periods. You choose whether to issue rewards automatically when a milestone is reached, or allow employees to claim rewards manually.
4. Add milestones

   Click + Add Milestone. For each milestone, enter:

   • Milestone Name (e.g., “Silver Achiever”)
   • Score threshold (the credit score at which this milestone is unlocked)
   • Description
   • Email subject line and body (the notification message sent to the employee)
   • Whether to send a gift or award alongside the notification

   Add as many milestones as needed, from entry-level to mastery.

5. Configure reward distribution

   For manually claimed rewards, you can optionally check Reset score to zero upon claiming. If checked, the employee’s score resets after each claim and they work towards the next milestone from zero. If unchecked, scores accumulate continuously toward the final milestone.

6. Save and update

   Click Update to save the milestone configuration.

Employees see a “Claim Rewards” icon next to each achieved milestone under Programs > Leaderboard > Milestone. For automatically issued rewards, points are credited without any action needed.

Update leaderboard scores with custom events

For events that Empuls cannot track automatically (e.g., steps in a fitness challenge tracked by a wearable app), you can upload score data manually.

1. Open the leaderboard

   Go to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard and select the leaderboard.

2. Upload custom event data

   Click Update data for custom events. Download the CSV template, fill in employee identifiers and the event code with corresponding scores, and upload the file. Each event code for a user requires a separate row.

3. Validate and update

   Review the validation summary, then click Update Score to apply the uploaded scores.

Edit event credits

You can adjust the credit value assigned to any event without rebuilding the leaderboard.

Navigate to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard > [Leaderboard Name] > Edit Leaderboard > Define Events, then click List of Events to see all configured events. Click the edit icon next to any event, adjust the score, and click Submit.

Manage leaderboard categories

Categories let you group events into themes (e.g., “Wellness”, “Learning”, “Recognition”). Employees can filter their leaderboard view by category.

Navigate to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard > Manage Categories. Click Create Category, enter a name and description, and click Save. Use the pen icon to edit existing categories and the status toggle to enable or disable them.

Exclude users from rankings

Users added to the exclusion list are not ranked or incentivised for any activity on Empuls. This is useful for HR team members who monitor engagement but should not compete.

Navigate to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard > [Leaderboard Name] > Exclusion List. Enter the user’s name and click Save. To remove a user from the exclusion list, hover over their name and click the delete icon.

Manage leaderboard visibility

Control which leaderboards appear as widgets on employees’ home pages.

1. Open visibility settings

   Navigate to Admin Dashboard > Programs > Manage Leaderboard, click the three-dot icon at the top of the screen, and select Leaderboard Visibility Settings.

2. Update visibility

   Check the boxes next to the leaderboards you want to display on employee home pages, and uncheck those you want to hide. Click Update Leaderboard Visibility.

Publish results to Slack

Empuls can automatically post leaderboard results to one or more Slack channels at the end of each game period. Configure the target channel(s) in your Slack integration settings. Contact your Empuls account manager to enable multi-channel publishing.

Leaderboard use cases

Recognition leaderboard

Track who recognises peers most actively. Showcase top contributors who embody core values through frequent appreciation.

Engagement leaderboard

Reward actions like posting, commenting, welcoming new joiners, and completing profiles. Reset monthly to keep competition fresh.

Wellness and stepathon

Track daily steps, calorie burn, or wellness challenge progress. Run team vs. team competitions during health awareness months.

Learning and development

Award credits for course completions, certifications, and skill modules. Run quarterly “Learning Champion” programmes.

Sales and performance

Highlight top performers in revenue, project delivery, or quality. Link Empuls events to CRM milestones.

CSR and volunteering

Track volunteer hours, funds raised, and causes supported. Make social impact visible and celebrate top contributors.

Can I exclude certain users from rankings?

Yes. Add them to the Exclusion List under the leaderboard settings. Excluded users are not ranked or incentivised for any activity on Empuls. You can remove them from the list at any time.

Can I edit an active leaderboard?

You can edit the leaderboard name, description, score name, winner title, and event credit values. You cannot change the start date, reset frequency, or the participant group after the leaderboard is active. To change those settings, disable the leaderboard and create a new one.

When and where are winners announced?

Winners (the number you configured) are announced according to the leaderboard’s reset frequency. Announcements appear on the feed of the group selected when creating the leaderboard.

Where do employees see their leaderboard ranking?

Employees can view rankings under Programs > Leaderboard in the left sidebar. If visibility is enabled, a leaderboard widget also appears on the home page right-hand side.

Can I create a leaderboard for a specific subset of employees?

Yes. Create a group containing only those employees, and select that group when configuring the leaderboard. Winner announcements will appear only in that group’s feed.

Can I create custom event categories?

Yes. Go to Manage Categories within the leaderboard and create any category. You can then map existing events to the new category.

Related pages

Milestones and service awards

Learn how milestone rewards connect to leaderboard scores and use cases.

Set up awards and core values

Create the awards that feed into recognition leaderboards.