Productivity and job happiness are closely related, therefore it’s critical that an organization frequently evaluates performance and recognizes individuals who go above and beyond. Also, it will motivate those who were left out to put up more effort. By doing so, they can guarantee that the next time, their teamwork and output increase and that everyone will be talking about them. While these forms of appreciation don’t have to be expensive or extravagant, we have put up some wonderful ideas for your next employee recognition awards. You don’t have to worry if your employees work remotely anyway, as we also have some fun virtual employee recognition ideas you can try out.
Fun Employee Recognition Ideas
#1. Inform everyone
Sharing examples of a person’s hard work with the entire organization is the quickest and, in fact, the simplest approach to express sincere gratitude. An excellent technique to draw attention to someone is to make your appreciation known to everyone. Others in other departments who might not otherwise be aware of them or how they contribute might be introduced to them and their work as a result. They now do!
#2. Organize a day for team building.
An annual team retreat, whether it’s an international trip, a stay in a five-star hotel in your city, or a weekend in the bush, is a great opportunity to demonstrate your thanks to your entire business. Everyone can feel like a valuable member of your system with the help of a regular team-building retreat.
For the moment, the epidemic has put a stop to everything, but that doesn’t mean you can’t engage in some virtual team building. Whether it be a team chat devoted to topics other than work, a virtual scavenger hunt, happy hour cocktails on a Friday, or even a quiz online. There are lots of online team building exercises to keep us occupied till things return to normal!
#3. Give your crew some treats
You can get to a worker’s heart through their stomach. Food is a simple method to show people that you care, whether it be on a weekly or monthly basis or by paying for someone’s meal at a social event.
#4. Give them a day off
The amount of vacation time allotted to a new hire is specified in their employment contract at the time of hire. You have the final say; if you think a person or team has gone above and beyond, give them a day off. Everyone would welcome a little more downtime, so make sure you have some time set aside to give to people you feel deserve it.
#5. Organize an awards ceremony
Even though you can do this more casually or during your Christmas party, it’s nice to organize an occasion for prize presentations. The awards themselves don’t have to be particularly formal, but they should acknowledge KPIs.
Having said that, you could also give a prize to the person with the greatest outfit, the tastiest food brought in, the best customer emails sent, the most amusing customer emails sent, and the highest likelihood of running for president. Recognition is still acknowledgment, even if it is ridiculous.
#6. Provide free trainings
Give those who deserve it the chance to develop their abilities, take up new knowledge, and pay the bill. Whether it’s a conference, an online course, or assistance with student loan repayment, these are all excellent methods to express your gratitude and upskill your workers.
#7. Making a big deal out of birthdays
Everyone in the office has been required to sign the card, but you can go one step further. Bring a cake in, organize a group sing-along, and make sure you bring them a gift. Even better, give your staff a day off for birthdays. It’s not only a tremendous benefit, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to draw in new talent.
#8. Create a wall of fame
A wall of fame is an entertaining and engaging approach to highlight the achievements of both people and teams. It’s also a terrific method to show off your culture to any tourists or those coming for an interview. Take images of your staff or shoot candid shots of them working hard. Invite individuals to jot down their own experiences on post-it notes and place them next to the images.
#9. Allocate parking spots
Create a monthly parking program that awards the top five performers with their own spot if parking is limited at your place of business. You may even paint the bay and add their name! Instead, you may arrange monthly drawings for parking spaces or, if necessary, pay for employees’ public transportation expenses.
#10. Give them more cash
Sometimes the finest approach to express your gratitude for someone’s exceptional job is to offer them an improved compensation plan. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a promotion or a significant pay increase. Invite them to your office, thank them for their efforts, and give them a new contract and the terms of their pay. Perhaps the best way to thank someone for their hard work is to offer them fair recompense.
Ideas For Employee Recognition Awards
Are you tired of the usual brief handshakes and almost rehearsed five-minute speech allocated to each employee on awards-giving days? Employees really take recognition personal, you know, and implementing the ideas in this section will give your work environment a whole new outlook in the next work year.
The Best Ideas For Employee Recognition Awards
#1. Master of Recognition Award
The team member who recognizes teammates the most frequently receives the recognition master honor. The core of your awards program is leadership and other team members that actively acknowledge others. Consider them influencers in the workplace. Their ongoing appreciation is what keeps other staff interested and motivated.
When workers receive praise and rewards, they feel valued, put in more effort, and look forward to going to work. They are considerably more likely to acknowledge their colleagues’ contributions and feel that their contributions are recognized. You should give out this award on a monthly basis to encourage frequent acknowledgment.
To demonstrate that recognition should be used consistently throughout the organization, make sure that this award is given to team members at all levels of the business. No matter who bestows it, acknowledgment is highly significant, according to research.
#2. Employee of the year award
Which worker consistently gets appreciation from their coworkers and management? Employees that received the highest praise each month or quarter should receive awards. Consider presenting an award for the most recognizable individual to each team, department, and company-wide. This prize encourages participation in your employee R&R program and expresses your appreciation to your team for their dedication to the undertaking. To make it even more memorable, you can give staff bonus points in addition to this prize.
#3. Special listener recognition
Workers want to know that you care about them, and 90% are more inclined to stick around a company if they feel their opinions are valued. Managers and leaders who seek out and act on input should be given the exceptional listener award. Giving feedback boosts productivity and employee engagement because it enables managers to address problems as they arise. The development of your team can be greatly impacted by your team’s ability to act on input. And offer extra credit to managers that present this feedback to their staff and collaborate with them to create a plan of action that everyone can get behind.
Companies have often just used yearly performance surveys. Yet with the help of tools like pulse surveys and always-on employee feedback channels like a workplace chatbot, technological advancements have made it feasible to shorten the feedback loop. With the help of these tools, you may respond to criticism right away, ensuring that your reaction is still relevant.
#4. Award for excellent feedback
Employee feedback is necessary for managers and leadership to develop solutions that meet the needs of the team. Giving rewards to team members who consistently offer feedback is a great approach to inspire other team members to do the same and foster a feedback-friendly environment. Of course, this medal should only be presented if the criticism wasn’t provided in an anonymous manner. Never reveal an anonymous author, not even for a prize, for ethical or legal grounds.
#5. Coach of the Year Award
The art of coaching is a specific talent that requires repetition. In contrast to coaches, who offer input to aid team members in decision-making, managers consult and micromanage. Coaches aid workers in developing and achieving their full potential by establishing clear standards, showing appreciation and praise, and putting team members in areas where they shine the most. They also develop sincere bonds of trust and respect with the other team members.
The coaching champion award ought to be given to coaches who go above and above in the workplace to assist others in developing personally and professionally. You can inspire and involve workers at all levels of engagement by recognizing effective leaders and coaches.
#6. Award for upholding beliefs
When working toward a common objective, your team members are brought together by your corporate values, and 75% of employees believe it is very important to work for a company that has a set of core values. The honoree must embody the company’s principles in all that they do and serve as a steadfast team member in trying circumstances.
#7. Constant growth award
You want workers who are constantly seeking new opportunities for growth—both professionally and personally. Consider how employees have developed personally as leaders, teammates, and people because growth isn’t just confined to professional accomplishment. Employees who have just graduated from a new field of study or who have acquired a professional certification are both eligible for this award. In addition to giving this award, make a commitment to programs that foster employee development in all spheres, from wellness to training and professional development.
#8. Driving success recognition
The driving success award should go to the team members who have had the largest impact on your business’s success. This team member may have increased sales the greatest, improved crucial business procedures, or promoted the success of others. For instance, Meijer offers The President’s Award to acknowledge team members who contribute to success in line with the business’s successful strategy.
#9. Teamwork honor
The team is held together by some personnel, who are supportive of one another, communicate well, and value the efforts of others. The goal of the team player award is to appreciate and promote cooperation. This employee incentive spells out the standards for your team and recognizes those who rise to the challenge. Make this a people’s choice award to give it more credibility by incorporating a voting procedure.
#12. Award for customer service
The team members who have excelled in client communication and relations are given the customer service award. Although maintaining client satisfaction is not always simple, providing excellent customer service is advantageous to all parties. Workers at businesses with good customer experiences are 1 1/2 times more likely to be engaged than those at businesses with poor customer experiences, according to Vanessa Brangwyn, Chief Customer Officer at Achievers.
Read Also: Employee Spotlight: Meaning, Example, Benefits & Questions
Fun Virtual Employee Recognition Ideas
Celebrating our hidden heroes has become more difficult due to the pandemic’s imposed distant working requirements. As managers, we are aware that the time has come to step up and motivate our staff by giving them the unique acknowledgment they merit. Here are some of the best virtual employee recognition ideas worth trying.
#1. Post staff appreciation messages on the business’s social media channels.
Make the most of the social media accounts for your business. Show your customers and other employees the people that contributed to the success of a project or product, rather than merely focusing on sales and marketing. For Gen Z employees, social media recognition works best since they are most engaged there and keener to brag about their accomplishments than their peers.
Honor each division, group, and person for their contributions to the company’s expansion. The crew can introduce remote workers to other members through social media recognition.
Shout-outs on social media also aid in expanding your business’s customer base. Your brand will gain more visibility as the honored employee shares this post on their timeline. This approach has a lot of advantages and is easy to use. Why not then?
#2. Ship gift cards.
To boost efficiency, remote workers typically set up a small workspace at home. They don’t always have all they need to stay comfortable, though. Provide gift cards and vouchers that will help them realize their goals of a handy workstation to show your appreciation.
As a result of its speed, adaptability, effectiveness, and measurement, this technique is commonly utilized for peer recognition. For this reason, workplace culture applications like Sprynkl enable coworkers to send instant recognitions with notes and points that can later be exchanged for actual gift cards.
#3. Establish a virtual hall of fame.
You can set up a virtual wall of fame for your remote workers, much like your team bulletin board filled with statistics and accomplishments. On the internal platform of the business, you can set up a forum where you can thank your staff for a job well done and have everyone recognize their work.
#4. Organize online celebrations and awards ceremonies
Who doesn’t enjoy a little dancing and fun? Have a party for your remote employees to relieve some tension. Get everyone to dress up and “bring along” a fancy bottle to enhance the atmosphere and make it appear more like a party. Make it even more unique by arranging an awarding ceremony for outstanding performers of the period.
#5. Honor birthdays and work anniversaries
On their special days, commemorate them with your remote employees. Have them leave early, announce at meetings, send emails, and have a brief song to wish them a happy birthday or work anniversary.
#6. Unexpected dinners or meal vouchers
Since I work from home, I seldom ever have time to prepare or even order food. Sending a discount coupon or, even better, having the food brought to their door by the firm can surprise your remote employees.
#7. Make a professional development course available to them online.
Since being productive is a type of self-gratification, remote workers want to experience that satisfaction. If their employer provided training and growth opportunities, 86% of millennials would be discouraged from leaving their present work, according to LORMAN. Therefore it stands to reason that they would be thrilled about the chance to advance their careers by taking professional courses.
#8. Packages for wellness
Sending wellness gifts demonstrates your concern for their physical and emotional health. Give them a yoga mat, a meditation app subscription, fruits, and wholesome snacks. Add some hand soaps, face masks, and sanitizers.
#9. Organize a virtual games night
Games are a great method to foster peer relationships and increase employee engagement. Set up online gaming competitions for your staff, and watch them become more competitive than ever.
Therefore, you should only plan these occasions only within working hours. Organizing these gatherings after hours amounts to you telling them how to spend their downtime, which is bad for business culture.
#10. OTT Subscription
Give your remote employees an OTT subscription of their choosing to show them that you value their leisure time as well. anything that they could watch while taking a break. Offer to pay for the next Netflix subscription for any employees who like watching the service, and suggest some of the top films on management and leadership that will help them grow personally.
#11. Virtual face-to-face recognition
Certainly, we are aware that you live apart and cannot possibly meet at work. You can now thank your high-performing remote employees by making a video call to them, thanks to technology. Inform them of their accomplishments and express your delight at their valuable efforts using online meeting tools.
#12. Post a recommendation on LinkedIn
Writing a LinkedIn endorsement is a morale booster for remote workers. A huge gain for your staff is having other high achievers and businesses read a recommendation from management. Spend little more than 10 minutes writing a compelling suggestion to put a smile on their faces. To get going quickly, you can also make use of several well-written templates.
#13. Create a leaderboard on the internet.
By keeping the appreciation program gamified, you may bring out the competitive side of your staff. Provide points to workers who achieve more and finish more tasks, and see how this encourages other workers to be more productive. While dominating the leaderboard is a commendable prize, you should also plan a budget for a genuine reward.
#14. Encourage teamwork online
Even if it’s just a small connection, workers need to experience a sense of community. Share breaks with your virtual team to foster camaraderie. Have a meeting every time there is a lunch or coffee break to eat, unwind, and catch up on distant working life.
Read Also: Team Morale: Best Tips to Boost Morale & Increase Productivity
Employee Recognition Ideas: Conclusion
Every business should use the great and adaptable tool of employee recognition. It’s a strategy for inspiring and involving your workforce as well as for demonstrating to your team members your appreciation for their efforts. We hope you were able to discover inspiration, whether you want to start a comprehensive program or look for modest ways to express “thank you” to your staff.
Related Articles
- 5 Employee Recognition Ideas for Remote Teams(Opens in a new browser tab)
- EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION IDEAS: Best Ideas and Messages for Appreciating Employees
- Customer Appreciation: Gifts, Benefits & Best Ways to Show Appreciation
- BRAND STRATEGY: Definition, Examples & Components of Branding
- Revenue Recognition Principle (GAAP) and The New Revised Principle
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