Volunteers in the forums like myself do not know how contingent staff are trained or incented.
Regarding marking Proposed Answers, no points are awarded, but it can count toward a "Proposed Answerer" achievement. If you propose a reply as an answer, and then someone else marks it as an answer, you are credited with one Proposed Answer toward
the achievement. These achievements are hard to get and relatively rare. It can take years to get the gold achievement.
Even after achieving the gold, I still like to mark proposed answers, as it adds another voice/opinion that the reply is worthwhile. It is not just one person. Marking a reply Helpful is also good, and gives the person that posted 5 points, but we cannot
tell who marks the reply helpful. But we see who marks a reply as a proposed answer.
Of course the preferred outcome is always to have the OP mark the answer. The guidelines for moderators that I have seen recommend waiting at least 7 days after the last activity, to give the OP time to mark an answer or ask further questions, before marking
answers. Too often we never hear from the OP again, but we still want to encourage people that provide good replies.
Richard Mueller - MVP Enterprise Mobility (Identity and Access)
