What you are asking for
You want to recognise useful contributions, including the ones that are hard to see. Decisions about progression and pay rest on what is visible.
What the system hears
“To be recognised, you have to show yourself. Fixing things quietly does not count.”
What that produces
You are the only buyer who sees all the work, and even you only see part of it. What presents well gets seen. Quiet maintenance, the fix that prevented the incident, the colleague you trained, do not.
A team notices that a reconciliation procedure produces far less rework. Three people contributed: the fix, the check, the upkeep. Only one presented it. If only she is recognised, the other two have learned the rule.
Make the criteria explicit: building, service, reliability, passing on. Ask the people concerned for the facts. Measure the effects when you can: less rework, incidents avoided, a shorter lead time.
Recognition does not replace a decision about pay or progression. If you are not the one who decides, document the contribution and take it to whoever does.
The decision
→ Write down the contributions that count for your team, and share that list.
→ Gather examples with their effects, and let each person complete the facts about them.
→ Explain each decision individually, with the next review date.
To discuss
Which useful contribution went unnoticed here in recent months?