Top 10 Unique Ways to Reward Your Employees

A study done a few years ago revealed that about 70 percent of working Americans aren’t as motivated as they could or should be.

As a result, they’re costing American employers somewhere in the neighborhood of $450 to $550 billion every year due to lost productivity.

Do you want to avoid finding yourself in this predicament? If so, you should make more of an effort to reward your employees in unique ways. It’ll keep them on their toes and encourage them to do their best at all times.

Here are 10 employee incentive ideas that will help you repay your employees for all of the hard work they do for you.

1. Give Employees Access to Your Company’s Top Executives During Special Lunches

If your employees don’t regularly interact with the top executives at your company, you should give them the chance to do it every now and then.

A good way to do it is to schedule monthly lunches with these executives and have those employees who have stood out in some way attend them.

This will give employees who might not otherwise interact with executives the opportunity to bounce ideas off them and get to know them better.

Your employees will appreciate this, especially if the executives show a real interest in them and use the lunches as a way to build relationships with those at all levels of your company.

2. Send Personalized Notes to Employees Who Go Above and Beyond

Even though there are so many ways to get in touch with people these days, many employees still appreciate the time and effort that goes into a handwritten note.

If you have an employee who has put in extra work on a big project or helped land a big account, a simple handwritten note will go a long way towards making them feel important.

All CEOs and executives should get into the habit of recognizing employees with occasional handwritten notes. They show that CEOs and executives notice the little things people do to make a company successful.

3. Hold an Annual Awards Show to Honor Your Best Employees

An annual awards show is a great way for companies to honor a bunch of great employees at once. Whether you run an accounting firm or a marketing agency, you can benefit from hosting awards shows for employees.

During these awards shows, companies can hand out trophies, medals, and other tokens of their appreciation to their employees.

A company like trophiesplusmedals.co.uk can provide you with high-quality mementos that you can give out to your employees to celebrate their achievements.

4. Start an Employee of the Day/Week/Month Program

There is a reason why so many companies launch Employee of the Day/Week/Month programs.

They boost morale and motivate people to work hard because they’re an indication that someone is always watching and looking to see who stands out from the crowd.

If you haven’t launched one of these programs already, you should seriously consider doing it. You should also come up with cool prizes to give to those who win.

Some of these prizes might include:

• A parking spot close to your building
• Free breakfast or lunch in your company’s cafeteria
• A place on a plaque honoring other employees who have been recognized
• And more!

5. Hand Out Movie Tickets to Employees Who Exceed Expectations

Most people enjoy going to the movies. But it’s gotten to be very expensive to take a trip to the theater.

You can help your employees go for free by handing out movie tickets to anyone who exceeds normal expectations. It’ll allow them to think about something other than work for a few hours while they’re taking in the latest flick.

6. Let Hard Working Employees Leave Early on Random Days

As a kid, was there anything better than when the weather got bad and your teacher announced that you were going to be leaving school early?

Unfortunately, most adults don’t get to experience that feeling anymore now that they’re working.

But you can bring it back for them by giving them the chance to go home early when they’re spotted working harder than usual. A random half day will lift their spirits and help them recharge before returning to work again.

7. Allow Employees to “Dress Down” for a Day After Reaching a Milestone

Most companies require their employees to dress up for work. They have to wear shirts and ties, slacks, and other formal attire when they’re in the office.

You can give your employees a break and allow them to have a little bit of freedom by simply letting them “dress down” for a day as a reward.

It might seem like a small thing. But letting employees wear jeans to work for a day will help to keep them energized and make your office feel a lot more relaxed.

8. Set Up a VIP Break Room for Your VIP Employees

There are a lot of companies that provide their employees with break rooms. But most of those break rooms consist of little more than tables and chairs for them to eat the food they’ve brought from home.

If you want to motivate your employees, you should set up a VIP break room filled with fresh fruits, soft drinks, and other things that will make them happy. You should then give certain employees access to this VIP break room when they earn it in some way.

9. Pay Tribute to Employees Who Stand Out in Company-Wide Emails

At the end of the day, most people who work for companies simply want to be acknowledged for the things they do. They want to feel like the work they do is important and actually matters.

You can show your employees you recognize them by sporadically sending out company wide emails that feature you shining a spotlight on certain employees.

This will make your employees feel good about themselves. It’ll also motivate those who aren’t honored to work harder to end up in a company-wide email.

10. Give Those Employees Who Work Hard in the Office a Chance to Work From Home

There are more and more employers allowing employees to work from home.

While you might not be able to give people the chance to work from home every day, it’s not a bad idea to offer your best employees the chance to skip coming into the office once or twice a week.

This will help you cut some costs on your end. It’ll also show that you’re committed to keeping your employees happy, even if it means thinking outside of the box.

Use These Employee Incentive Ideas to Your Advantage

There are so many employee incentive ideas that you can use to motivate your employees to work harder.

When you offer up incentives, you’ll create a more positive culture within your company and keep people happy.

Check out our blog for more creative solutions for improving the way your company does business.

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