Employee of the Month Nomination Examples by Role

A nomination has one job: to let someone who was not there understand what a colleague did and why it mattered. The nominations that win are rarely the longest or the most enthusiastic. They are the ones with a specific example in them. “She is always so helpful” loses to “she stayed on the phone with a customer for an hour until the order was fixed” every time.

Below is a simple structure, then fourteen sample nominations across common roles. The people are fictional and the details are there to show the level of specificity to aim for. Swap in what actually happened. At the end is a nomination form you can copy into a document or an online form.

A three-part structure

1. What they did. One or two concrete examples from this month, with enough detail that a stranger could picture it.
2. What difference it made. To a customer, a coworker, a deadline, a cost or a risk. Use a number if you have a real one.
3. Why it deserves the award. Tie it to the award’s criteria or a company value, in one sentence.

Sixty to one hundred and twenty words is plenty. Leave out general praise, length of service and anything about the person’s private life. For nominations to larger or external awards, which need more evidence, see how to write an award nomination.

Customer-facing roles

Customer service representative

I nominate Jasmine. This month a customer called about an order that had been sent to an old address. Jasmine tracked the package, arranged the redirect, and called the customer back twice to confirm it had arrived. The customer later wrote to say she would not shop anywhere else. Jasmine does this kind of follow-through routinely, and it is exactly what our “own the outcome” value means.

Retail sales associate

I nominate Devon. During the holiday weekend, when we were two people short, Devon ran the fitting rooms and the register between customers without being asked, and still found time to help a new hire learn the returns process. Our line never backed up. He kept the whole floor calm.

Receptionist or front desk

I nominate Maribel. When the phone system went down on the fourteenth, she set up call forwarding to her own cell phone, kept a paper log of every message and made sure each one reached the right person by the end of the day. Not one client appointment was missed. Most people in the building never knew there had been a problem.

Restaurant server

I nominate Andre. He noticed a guest’s allergy note had not reached the kitchen, stopped the order and had it remade before it left the pass. He also covered three shifts this month for coworkers. Guests ask for his section by name, and this month showed why.

Operations, warehouse and trades

Warehouse associate

I nominate Carlos. He noticed that our fastest-moving items were stored at the far end of the building and suggested moving them next to packing. He helped re-slot them on his own shift. Pick times on those items have dropped noticeably, and the whole team finishes earlier on heavy days.

Maintenance technician

I nominate Hannah. She found a worn belt on line two during a routine check, well before it was due for replacement, and changed it during a scheduled break instead of waiting for it to fail. That saved us an unplanned stoppage in our busiest month. She also wrote up the check so the other technicians now do it too.

Delivery driver

I nominate Omar. He completed every route this month on time with no incidents, and twice stayed to help customers move deliveries inside when they had no one available. We received two thank-you calls about him. He represents us better than any advertisement could.

Field service or installer

I nominate Kelsey. On a job that had been quoted incorrectly, she spotted the problem before starting, called the office, and explained the options to the customer clearly enough that they approved the change on the spot. The job finished on schedule and the customer has since referred a neighbor.

Office and professional roles

Administrative assistant

I nominate Nadia. She organized the annual client meeting for ninety people, including travel for a dozen of them, and when the venue changed our room at the last minute she had new signage and seating plans ready before the first guest arrived. Three clients commented on how smoothly it ran. That was Nadia.

Accountant or bookkeeper

I nominate Wei. While closing the month he found a duplicate vendor payment from the previous quarter and recovered it. He then added a check to the process so it cannot recur. It is careful, unglamorous work that protects the whole company.

IT support

I nominate Rohan. He moved the entire office to the new email system over one weekend so that nobody lost a working day, and on Monday he walked the floor answering questions in person instead of waiting for tickets. Not a single message was lost.

Software developer or engineer

I nominate Elena. She tracked down a fault that had been causing intermittent errors for customers for months, fixed it, and wrote a clear explanation that the support team now uses. Error reports on that feature have stopped. She also reviewed more of her teammates’ work than anyone else this month.

Care, education and leadership roles

Nurse or care worker

I nominate Grace. A resident’s family was anxious about a change in care, and Grace took the time to sit with them, explain it and answer every question. She also mentored our newest aide through her first month. Families and colleagues alike ask for her, and that trust is the standard we want.

Team leader or supervisor

I nominate Terrence. When two of his team were out, he rearranged the schedule so that nobody had to work a double, took the least popular shift himself and still hit every target. His team’s attendance and morale are the best in the building, and that is not an accident.

Nominations for supervisors work best when they come from the people supervised. If the award is specifically about leadership, see leadership awards.

Weak nomination, strong nomination

The same person, nominated twice:

Weak: “Jasmine is a fantastic employee who always goes above and beyond. She has a great attitude and everyone loves working with her. She really deserves this award.”

Strong: “On the ninth, Jasmine tracked down a misdelivered order, arranged the redirect and called the customer back twice to confirm it arrived. The customer wrote to thank us by name.”

The weak version could describe anyone, so it persuades no one. The strong version is shorter and gives the panel something to weigh. If you find yourself writing “always,” “great” or “above and beyond,” stop and ask what you saw that made you think so. Write that instead.

A nomination form to copy

Keep the form short. Every extra field reduces the number of nominations you receive.

1. Nominee’s name and department or team.
2. Your name and how you work with the nominee.
3. Month the nomination is for.
4. What did they do? Describe one or two specific examples from this month.
5. What difference did it make? To a customer, a colleague or the team.
6. Which of our criteria or values does this show? A short list to tick.
7. Anything else the panel should know? Optional.

State on the form who is eligible, when nominations close each month and who decides. Those rules are covered in how to run an employee of the month program.

After the nomination wins

A good nomination is useful twice. Read a sentence or two of it aloud when the award is presented, so the winner hears the reason in a colleague’s words, and give the nominee a copy even if they do not win. The reason can also be shortened to a single line for the award itself; employee appreciation messages shows how to cut a paragraph down to a line.

For the plaque and the keeper award the winner receives, see employee of the month awards, and for ways to keep the program fresh, employee of the month ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write a nomination for employee of the month?

Describe one or two specific things the person did this month, say what difference it made, and link it to the award’s criteria or a company value. Sixty to one hundred and twenty words is enough.

What should you not include in a nomination?

General praise with no example, comparisons with other employees, length of service unless the award is about it, and anything about the person’s health or private life.

How long should an employee of the month nomination be?

A short paragraph. Panels read many nominations, and a specific example in a few sentences is more persuasive than a page of adjectives.

Can you nominate your manager for employee of the month?

That depends on your program’s eligibility rules. Many programs exclude managers or give them a separate award. Check the rules, and if they are silent, ask whoever runs the program.

What questions should a nomination form ask?

Who is being nominated, who is nominating, what they did, what difference it made and which criteria or values it shows. Keep it to one screen or one page.