16 Creative Reward Ideas To Recognize Your Best Employees
Tags: Employee Engagement, Employees, Management, Employee Appreciation, Employee Benefits

According to an O.C. Tanner Learning Group white paper, 79% of people who quit their jobs say they did so due to “lack of appreciation.”

Furthermore, a poll by Gallup revealed that out of the one billion full-time workers globally, only 15% of them are actively engaged at work, meaning 85% of them dislike their job — and more specifically, their boss.

In more simple terms: most people hate their jobs. And if they quit, it’s most likely because they don’t feel appreciated.

And with the continuous rise of online jobs, it’s easier than ever to walk away from an unsatisfying nine to five.

Disliking work doesn’t just affect the unsatisfied employee, though — it affects the entire team, work atmosphere, and eventually, the whole company.

Luckily, there’s a simple solution that’s bound to leave your employees feeling more appreciated (and thus, more motivated) — employee rewards.

Recognize and appreciate your employees on a bigger scale. Switch to ProofHub today.

If you’re looking for creative ways to express employee recognition, look no further. Here are 16 employee rewards you can use right away.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

1. Gift cards

Everyone loves saving money with gift cards. And with almost every store (both brick-and-mortar and online) offering them, they consistently prove helpful.

You can never go wrong with gift cards to e-commerce stores like Amazon or general stores like Walmart or Target. And, of course, Visa cards are always well-appreciated.

But if you want your reward to be even more meaningful, give your employees gift cards to places you know they enjoy or regularly frequent.

Ideas for gift cards to more niche stores include Bath and Body Works, specific restaurants, gaming or tech stores like Best Buy, Home Depot, and more.

2. Monthly subscription services

Monthly subscriptions — the small $5-$10 fees that don’t seem like a lot of money but can add up.

Ask anyone if they pay monthly for an item or service, and you’ll likely find that most (if not all) of your interviewees do.

As a reward for excellence at work, you can offer to pay for one of your employee’s monthly subscriptions or grant them a new one.

Here are a few I’d recommend:

Headspace

Headspace is a popular mental health app that offers over 500 guided meditations, tips for relieving stress and anxiety, sleep sounds and exercises, and more.

Studies show that regularly practicing meditation is associated with changes in the physical brain structure, leading to benefits like increased productivity.

A Headspace subscription only costs $12.99 per month or $69.99 a year, making it an affordable employee reward.

Spotify or Apple Music

With a Spotify or Apple Music subscription, your employees can listen to their favorite songs without having to pay for each download (or CDs, if anyone still does that anymore). Plus, the ability to stream music offline.

Many of your employees likely already have an account with one of these services. If so, consider offering to pay for their existing subscription.

Skillshare

Skillshare has risen to popularity over the last few years because of its incredible amount of online courses that allow users to explore their creativity, advance their careers, and develop new skills.

With course genres like Animation, Creative Writing, Business Analytics, Leadership & Management, Graphic Design, Marketing, and many more, Skillshare makes for the perfect reward.

Not only will it benefit your employees, but the skills they develop through their new subscription could greatly benefit the company down the line.

3. Club memberships and subscription boxes

Similar to the last reward idea, club memberships or subscription boxes are paid for monthly.

But instead of offering a digital service, these subscriptions ship boxes of physical products to their subscribers’ doors each month.

There are various options out there, which means you can choose a subscription that any of your employees would enjoy (like skincare or meal deliveries) or one that speaks to a specific employee’s passions or hobbies (like books or knitting).

Some of the most popular boxes include FabFitFun, Goldbelly, and Book of the Month.

4. Gym memberships

When most people think of gym memberships, they expect the price to be outrageously high. But luckily, depending on the gym you choose and the plan you get, they can be surprisingly cheap.

More and more companies are including gym memberships in their employee benefits, making it one of the best employee rewards if yours hasn’t yet.

Even employees who aren’t fitness freaks are bound to enjoy the benefits that come with a membership, like gym classes or the ability to bring a friend for free.

Plus, by adding gym memberships to your list of employee rewards, you’ll be appreciating your team’s hard work AND promoting health simultaneously.

5. Care packages

A care package can be as simple or extravagant as you want it to be.

There’s a multitude of websites that offer pre-made packages, or you can make one yourself by collecting little gifts that your rewarded employee is bound to love.

If you’d rather take the convenient route of online ordering but still want to choose gifts that speak to your employee, consider using a service like Happy Box. Happy Box lets you build your own care package by selecting a box design, specific gifts, and a card.

If you need ideas of items you can include in a care package; some popular ones include snacks, skincare products, hand sanitizer, candles, office supplies, and candy.

6. “Employee of the month”

One of the most traditional ways to honor a hardworking employee is to grant them the title of “employee of the month,” but there are many ways you can get creative with it.

For one, consider starting a “wall of fame” that includes the name (and maybe even the picture and bio) of employees who stand out in their excellence at work. This can be physical or virtual, such as on the company website.

Another idea is to feature your employee of the month in your newsletter program. You can even interview them or highlight their successes.

Lastly, consider promoting your employee’s creative works or hobbies that they participate in outside of the office. For example, if they love to write, allow them to send in their favorite short story or poem that can be shared with the team.

Do they have a YouTube channel, blog, or social media account that displays their artwork? Give them recognition for it!

Make company-wide announcements and recognize your employees for a job well done with ProofHub. Sign up for free.

7. Online courses and training

Say your employee finds a digital marketing course and thinks it’ll be valuable for her and for the company’s growth. But it’s expensive or time-consuming, so she doubts she’d be able to do it.

What do you do?

If a hardworking employee expresses interest in advancing their knowledge, consider starting a developmental budget that allows them to do so.

It’s simple: your employee finds a course, online training, seminar, or conference they want to join, and the company agrees to pay for it (partially or entirely).

Not only is this a fantastic way to reward eager and diligent employees, but it also motivates them to continue learning and inspires team growth.

8. Lunch or dinner with whoever they want

Instead of purchasing a gift, reward your employees with a free meal. They get to choose the time and place of the meal and who in the company they want to eat with.

9. Bring your pet to workday

Assuming no one in the office has severe allergies, reward your team by allowing them to bring their furry friends to work!

To make it even more exciting, you can allow employees “playtime” breaks where they’re excused from work to spend time with their pets for a few minutes.

Since not everyone in your office may have pets, another fun idea is to hire an animal service or shelter to bring pets to the workplace. Who knows — maybe one of your petless employees will clock out with a new friend.

10. Out-of-the-office team building

Another reward for the whole team is to take work outside of the office for a day.

Think of a place where you can still be productive and have fun at the same time. This can be anywhere that has a business or conference room, lobby, or area safe for laptops.

Your team will likely already enjoy the nice change of scenery, but you can add to the fun by participating in team-building activities. Take rock climbing, trampoline parks, and skating rinks as examples.

11. Activity tickets

Is there a sports team your hardworking employee is a fan of?

A concert they want to attend?

A movie they’d like to see?

If so, buy them tickets (and maybe even give them part of the day off!).

12. Mental health day

Why not reward employees with something that they won’t just enjoy but will also better their health and assist them at work?

We’ve been paying much more attention to mental health as a society, but it’s still easy to get caught up in the busyness of life to the point of stress, fatigue, and burnout. And since your employees have put so much effort into the work they’ve done, perhaps the best way to give back is to help them refresh and relax with a mental health day!

On mental health days, consider doing mindful activities like group meditation, taking longer breaks, leaving work early, or even taking a yoga class as a team.

13. Run a 5K as a team

Circling back to the team-building activities, consider entering your team in a 5K. Not only is participating in a fun run the perfect way to get closer as colleagues, but many 5Ks also raise money for great causes.

To look for fun runs and other activities in your area, use a site like Active.com. When viewing the available runs, you’ll also see which causes they’re supporting. There are multiple for raising awareness around issues like child abuse, autism, and breast cancer.

If running or walking doesn’t interest you or your team, consider sponsoring anyone who does show interest or is already signed up for a race.

14. Let your employees choose their reward

Too many creative employee rewards to choose from? Choose them all — and then let your employee(s) decide which one they’d like most!

Letting your team choose their own rewards doesn’t just take the pressure off of you. It also ensures they’re receiving something they thoroughly enjoy, making it more meaningful.

15. Handwritten “thank you” note

This idea can be the reward itself or an addition to another, but regardless, it’s worth mentioning.

Handwritten notes are classic, but in today’s digital society, they’re also rare. The amount of time, effort, and thought you put into an old-fashioned appreciation letter is bound to touch your deserving employee.

16. Time off

Last but certainly not least, nothing quite says “I appreciate you” like “here’s some time off.”

Giving your employees time off as a reward for hard work is the perfect incentive for them to keep going. And more than likely, after they return from the time off (whether it be one day or a full week), they’ll be ready to get back to work with the assurance that their diligence doesn’t go unnoticed.

An alternative to giving an employee one day off is adding onto their PTO (paid time off) if the company has it — and if it doesn’t, consider starting it.

Sometimes the perfect reward is that of no responsibilities for a day.

Employee Rewards are the Key to an Ideal Work Environment

All employees should feel appreciated, as nothing demotivates them more than feeling as if nothing they do is good enough. Plus, having to go to work from nine to five every day easily gets exhausting without any sort of recognition.

Employee rewards are a must if you want superb employee satisfaction and a harmonious team that trusts each other, cooperates well, and enjoys coming to work every day. Simply engaging in small employee assessments will be proof enough.

And with these 16 ideas, you’re well-equipped to start handing them out to those who shine.

Author Bio

Freya Kuka is a personal finance expert and founder of the CollectingCents website that teaches readers how to grow their passive income, save money, improve their credit score, and manage debt. She has been featured in publications like Business Insider, Fox Business, the Huffington Post, and GoBankingRates.