What are employee rewards?

Table of contents
Learn more about employee rewards
How to plan employee rewards
Want ideas for employee rewards?
Fun and engaging rewards for employees
Employee awards for remote teams
What are some employee rewards and gifts?
Why employee rewards matter
Reward employees at your company
Frequently asked questions about employee rewards

Learn more about employee rewards

Employee rewards are a great way to reward, motivate and show appreciation for your current employees, but what are they exactly? Recognition generally comes in the form of rewards, gifts, and public recognition given to employees who have achieved a goal or performed well. Many companies have a couple of rewards they hand out for years served or sales goals met. More thoughtful rewards should be considered and given throughout the year, not just at a once-yearly company party. Often time, the rewards ceremonies are lackluster and don’t mean much to employers or employees. Increase happiness in the workplace by regularly recognizing the hard work that employees put in with employee rewards.

How to plan employee rewards

There are several things to consider when planning out your company’s employee rewards. We will outline some key things to think about when determining your employee rewards. 

•  Frequency of rewards – Gone are the days of infrequent employee rewards. Gifts should be given out often and in real-time. If an employee hits a goal or milestone, don’t wait for the next team meeting or party to reward them. Give them their reward right then. Frequent rewards should be inherent in your company’s culture. This is a great way to fast-track your increased employee happiness and morale. 
• Public acknowledgment – Sure it feels great to be acknowledged privately, but do you know what feels even better? The whole company knowing what a great job you did. Help your employees step out from behind the scenes and let the whole company know about their achievements. Send your employee an e-card with their accomplishment and invite the whole team to sign the card. 
• Rewards should reflect company goals. Most companies are great at laying out what their goals for the year are and what their motto is going to be to get there. Why not make sure that your employee rewards are in line with those goals? Consider what you as a company are trying to achieve as you think about what rewards you want to present. Let your employees know how they as individuals are contributing to the success of the company.  
• Get creative with employee rewards. Don’t copy and paste award titles that have been used in the corporate setting since the beginning of time. Get creative with what rewards you hand out. Come up with something outside of the box. You can even just get creative with the wording of your rewards. Instead of an award for “Sales Goals Met”, consider “Sales Rockstar Award!” Make it unique and fun. 

Consider a unique workplace recognition program. It is easy to get stuck in the traditional style of giving employee rewards which includes thinking of an award and handing out a plaque or certificate for it. Come up with a different program that works for your company. An employee competition is a fun way to motivate employees. Assign goals for different achievements and have your teams compete for various categories of rewards. Your human resource department will like this one as it is managed digitally. Kudoboard is great for this.

Want ideas for employee rewards?

There are so many different rewards you can give your employees. It is overwhelming to get started thinking of some. Here are some great employee award ideas that you can try! 

1. Above and Beyond Award 

Recognize the employee that is always doing much more than is in their job description. This is a great recognition award for those employees that go out of their way to support their co-workers and their company’s goals. 

2. Employee of the Month Award

Ok, we may have been dogging some traditional employee rewards, but that doesn’t apply to all of them. Employee of the Month is a great way to recognize capable employees in real-time. The trick here is to make it public and be very consistent. Don’t skip months!

3. Employee of the Year Award

Use Kudoboard for an Employee of the Year award. Recognize and award an employee for their exceptional performance, contributions, and achievements within an organization over the year. The specific criteria for selecting the Employee of the Year generally involves a comprehensive evaluation of an employee’s accomplishments, dedication, skills, and impact on the organization. Kudoboard can be the platform for all to recognize an employee of the year award.

4. Mentorship Award

Mentoring in the workplace is a great way to decrease your employee turnover. A lot of times, starting a new job at a new company can be so overwhelming. Mentorship is a great way to help employees get acclimated to not only their position but to the company culture. Motivate employees to step up as mentors by awarding a reward for mentorship. Trust us on this one, it’s gold!

5. Customer First Award 

This is great for companies that sell or work directly with customers. Improve your ratings and customer satisfaction reviews by incentivizing employees to provide quality customer service. Give this award to an employee who goes the extra mile to ensure the customer has a good experience with your company. This is a win/win as it helps keep your employees engaged, and improves the customer service your company is providing.  

6. Rise and Shine Award

This award is the perfect way to show appreciation for employees who come in on time and are ready to work. It is invaluable to have employees who set the tone for how the day will go first thing and it is helpful to award them for that. 

7. Employee Choice Award 

Oftentimes, management are the ones deciding who gets what award. If we are being completely honest, they may not be the best choice to do this. Employees work with each other within their own teams and cross-functionally every day, so why not ask them who they think deserves an award. Let employees nominate their co-workers for rewards. It is a great way to find some quality employees who fly under the radar. 

8. Best Team Player

Sure some jobs may be independent ventures, but most require collaboration within teams and cross-functionally. Award the staff member that work well in a team. This will show you what employees are able to get initiatives done productively. 

9. Work Anniversaries

While we don’t think these should be the only rewards your company hands out, recognizing your employees’ tenure is a great way to help them feel appreciated. Corporate loyalty is becoming a thing of the past, so it is a great idea to award those employees that choose to stick with your company. Work anniversaries are easy to celebrate with Kudoboard 

10. The Legacy Award

Reward those who are retiring with The Legacy Award. Recognize them for specific and well-thought-out achievements they have accomplished during their career with your company. As we look to the future, we would be remiss to ignore those who have paved the way for us. 

11. Leadership Rewards

Good leadership is hard to come by. It is also very important to maintain happiness in the workplace. According to business.com, “Positive relationship management can increase engagement for employees productivity, creativity, innovation, and collaboration. Strong manager-employee relations can also help reduce employee absenteeism and employee turnover.” It pays to motivate managers to be good leaders by giving a leadership award.

Fun and engaging rewards for employees

Employee rewards are a great way to keep employees happy and engaged. It is important to take it seriously and really put some thought into great and meaningful gifts that will really help employees feel seen and appreciated. There is something to be said for keeping it light at work as well. Every now and then it would be fun to incorporate some not-so-serious, or funny gifts into the mix. Here’s some ideas to get you started. 

1. Work Coffee Guru Award

The unsung hero at the office is the one who gets there in the morning and gets the coffee going. The one in the office that loves coffee and ensures others are productive deserves recognition. It is usually the same person every time and where would we all be without that employee? If the purveyor of caffeine isn’t worth awarding, I’m not sure what is. 

2. Never at their Desk Award

This person is known to be all over the office, and never at their desk. When you have a question for this person, you know it’s time to put on your sneakers and play hide and seek. It’s not that they are slacking, they just value face time more than digital communication.  

3. Sales Sandbager Award

Award the salesperson who intentionally underestimates or downplays their sales forecast or performance. This behavior is typically done to manipulate expectations, create a perception of low performance, and potentially gain certain advantages within the organization the next month or quarter.

4. Fitness Guru Award

Most of us are lounging and eating during our lunch break. We all know that co-worker that is using their time for a workout. We all look at them and say, “Oh I should do that too”, and then we don’t. Shout them out for their commitment to fitness. 

5. Running Behind Award

This employee award is perfect for that person who everyone (everyone but them of course) knows is going to be at least 5 minutes late to every meeting on their calendar. They run chronically behind and we love them for it. 

6. Heard Throughout the Office

We all know every office has a staff member known as “the loud one”. You can hear them tell stories, type, laugh, and mutter, all throughout the office. If you are reading this and thinking, “my office doesn’t have one of those people,” buckle up for the next award ceremony buddy. It’s probably you. 

7. Appointment Professional

Appointments are a part of life, we all have them. This award is for that employee who always seems to have an appointment of some sort. They are usually missing meetings or late because they, “had an appointment”. They rush out of the office at the end of the day because they, “have an appointment.” Every office has one.

Employee awards for remote teams

The remote or hybrid workplace has become much more common in today’s working environment. With that shift, work relationships look a little different. Some may stand out for different reasons in a remote environment. It is important to cater employee rewards to the evolving remote workplace. Some remote employees in a hybrid workplace may feel left out when it comes to rewards and office dynamics. Creating rewards just for them will help motivate them to participate in meetings and help them feel seen for the work they do. 

1. Always Available Award

This is a great prize for someone who is always active on the work chats, no matter the time of day. Recognize your remote employees that are there for their co-workers at all times. 

2. Pet Cameo Award

Since the pandemic and the shift to at-home working, we have gotten the opportunity to get to know our co-workers’ pet babies. They seem to always make an appearance in Zoom calls which is so fun! Award employees whose pets you have gotten to know the best and who have made the best cameo appearances. 

3. Megaphone Award

This is a fun award for that person who always seems to forget that they are not muted. Everyone on the team has heard all types of things from their side of the Zoom call. 

4. Snack King/Queen

Shout out that remote employee that is always eating during meetings. Whether you hear them crunching on a call or see them eating in a Zoom meeting. There is always someone eating and they deserve to be recognized. 

5. Giph Award

Everyone’s remote team has one. Give this reward to that one person who is most likely to respond in the team chat with a Giph, and it’s always on point. 

6. Team Connection Award

Staying connected as a team socially while working from home can be difficult. Reward the person who is always planning events for your team to do virtually. They are someone who puts effort into human connection and that is definitely worth recognizing.

What are some employee rewards and gifts?

Now that you have developed some ideas for employee rewards to hand out, it is time to figure out what the actual recognition rewards will be. The traditional route has been certificates or plaques. Those can be great options, but there may be a better use of the budget. One idea is to come up with a few different ideas for prizes and then poll the company to see what most people would like to get for their award. Would your employees like a Kudoboard, gift cards, personalized coffee table book, or time off? There are so many options. It is always best to ask and find out what will motivate employees best. With that in mind, let’s discuss some options for the rewards themselves. 

Public Recognition

There is a reason that the tried and true prizes for awards are trophies of some sort. They allow employees to show off their accomplishments. Kudoboard can be used as a tool for public recognition. They are a great reward and can be displayed digitally in one’s home or office. It serves to remind the employee and those around them of their efforts, and could really help them feel appreciated. They definitely deserve a place in the running for employee award prizes. Digital e-cards are a great way to present your employees with their awards. They even give you the opportunity to have their co-workers to contribute appreciation. 

Gift Cards

What better way to award someone than to give them the funds to buy whatever they want? You can give them a general Visa gift card so they can spend it wherever they want. To make it a bit more personal, you could do some research and find out the employee’s favorite store to shop at or their favorite restaurant. Get them a gift card for those places to really help the employee feel seen and appreciated. Your human resource department will love this idea as gift cards are much easier to manage. A points system would really work well here as well. Employees can get points for every award they earn, and then they can trade their points in for gift cards.

VIP Parking Spot  

For your employees that work in the office, parking can be a hot commodity. Offer up prime parking for employees that receive rewards. It can be for a set amount of time so that you can rotate through the next rewards cycle. 

Time Off

Time is worth a lot for most people, so give your employees who earn employee rewards time off that will not count against their sick leave or PTO. This will be very motivating for all employees to try and earn awards in the future. Another spin on this option is to hand out coupons that are worth 1 hour each of time off. They can collect the coupons and use them together to make a whole day off. 

Free Food

The way to most people’s hearts is through food, and it’s no different at the corporate level. Offer employees who receive awards free lunch. It can be one lunch they buy themselves and then expense. It could also be a catered lunch brought in for all award winners. There are a lot of ways you could do the lunch.

Why employee rewards matter

Since the era of the “Great Resignation” keeping employees motivated and happy is more important than ever. Employees are much more concerned about their mental health and feel fulfilled and happy at work. It is your responsibility, as a company, to help employees feel that they are seen and appreciated. From entry-level to the executive team, make sure you are motivating all employees to work their hardest.

Reward employees at your company

Employee rewards are a great way to show your employees that you see and appreciate their individual contributions to help achieve the company’s goals. In today’s corporate world, this has become vital to recruiting and retaining top talent. The sky is the limit when deciding what recognition award you want to hand out. They can be the same every time, or you can be creative and intentional when you consider specific people for each employee recognition award. Show your employees they matter to you and get started with employee rewards today!