At first, each member is given reward acknowledging their effort as they relocate (8)
I believe the answer is:
emigrate
'relocate' is the definition.
(to emigrate is to relocate in a different country)
'at first each member is given reward acknowledging their' is the wordplay.
'at first' suggests taking the first letters.
'their' becomes 'te' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The initial letters of 'each member is given reward acknowledging' is 'emigra'.
'emigra'+'te'='EMIGRATE'
'effort as they' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for emigrate that I've seen before include "Go to settle in a foreign country" , "Leave homeland" , "Change country of residence" , "Move abroad" , "Go to live and work in another country" .)