Abstract: The technology disclosed relates to tracking performance and initiatives of employees and providing real-time recognition for their successes and contributions through customizable recognition awards. In particular, it relates to automatically awarding recognition awards to an employee by evaluating the employee's current performance against progress features and exception features. The progress features indicate a progression of an individual across a work cycle and exception features indicate high performance of the individual during the work cycle. Thus the recognition awards are automatically awarded when the current performance of the employee evidences accomplishment of milestones or high performance.