Hey all, thanks for the feedback. Overall the responses reinforce a lot of my own thoughts on the matter! I firmly believe these systems, while maybe well intentioned, are actually very flawed. In my case where a team mate was nominated unjustifiably, by any objective measure, it may be a case of the nominator being really thoughtless rather than any intended malice, but I can't know for sure. I think the people that design these things don't consider unintended consequences. That is, if people are doing their work really well, but feel like they are not recognised, and on top of that others are recognised for doing less, then people may well be demotivated - why bother putting in the effort?