12 Creative Ways to Reward Employees For Their Hardwork
The progress of every company cannot be separated from the hard work of its employees. Recognizing employees' hard work and providing rewards is crucial and a powerful tool for increasing team engagement. But why do companies need to reward employees? Because it's necessary to retain top talent in the company and keep the employees happy. When employees feel valued and appreciated, they will give their best performance and be aligning with the company's goals. In this article, we will provide some employee wellness ideas and provide some ways for companies to reward their employees.
What is an example of rewarding the employee?
Examples of rewarding the employees can be in the form of professional development opportunities, gift boxes, performance bonuses, employee awards, and health benefits. You need to determine how much the reward employees will be, determined by their services so far. Don't delay too long or forget to recognize employees' hard work, because that will determine retention or turnover.
A company that is late to recognize their employees' hard work will be left by the best talents to look for a more worthy company, while employees will stay longer and be more loyal when they feel appreciated or valued. Sometimes employees don't care about how much reward they get, but how the company cares about its employees is the most important thing.
What are the three main ways of rewarding employees?
There are various ways to reward employees, and they are divided into three main categories. First, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Second, non-financial and financial rewards. Third, membership and performance-based rewards. All forms of rewards have their own benefits and values. You as a company must understand the difference, and know which one is best for your employees.
- Intrinsic vc extrinsic rewards
Intrinsic rewards are motivations that can provide results in higher levels of job accomplishments. Make employees feel valued by providing job titles, career growth, praise and personal achievements. While extrinsic rewards can be received if employees are doing a good job. For example, if employees have increased performance, they will get bonuses, gifts, and raises.
- Non-financial vs financial rewards
Financial rewards depend on employees' financial status such as salary raises or bonuses, while non-financial rewards focus on providing employee benefits such as gift cards, parking space, gym memberships, or upgrading office equipment, but do not provide any financial gain to employees.
- Membership vs performance-based rewards
Membership based rewards are given in the form of services and benefits such as company vacations, annual bonuses, or upgraded office furnishing. While performance based rewards are incentive systems, commissions, and group bonuses.
12 ways to reward employees for their hardwork
Although there are many options for giving rewards to employees, you must be able to think carefully and prepare them. Below is a list of 12 creative ways to reward your employees for any business.
- Work happy hour
Notify each department when you are planning an evening or a night for dinner together in the restaurant or local eatery. At dinner, celebrate the moment by complimenting your team's work and expecting the team to keep a good performance. Let the employees drink and have some appetizers without having to think about the bill. This is a great reward as well as a great time for employees to establish closeness with others outside the office.
If you have a remote team, ensure you plan a virtual happy hour and send them a meal or drink kit to be enjoyed at their home.
- Employee of the month
This is an old-school idea, but still super effective until now. You can put employee photos on the company website or in the front room at the office. Photos of employees can be seen by clients or coworkers to serve as inspiration for other workers, and honoring employees for specific characteristics, accomplishments, and core values.
You can determine one employee of the month per department, to give employees in each department a great opportunity to improve their performance.
- Healthy monthly budget
Prepare a budget every month to think about employees' healthy living and wellness. Take your team for fitness classes, gym membership, prepare morning smoothies, or yoga classes. Healthy living at the office means giving employees the opportunity to increase their productivity and maintain their focus.
If wellness activities are carried out routinely and are attended by all employees, it will reduce the possibility of burnout or unnecessary stress.
- Company offsite
An offsite is a great way to refresh employees' minds after hitting team goals and take them for fun outside the office. Choose interesting activities for the team such as bowling alley, theme park, trip in the mountains, or anything that promotes team building and strengthens your company culture.
- Engraving wine bottle & glasses
Give the employee with the best performance an engraving wine gift set as the best award for them. Why does it have to be wine? Because wine is a symbol of celebration, luxury, and wisdom. What makes this reward special is that wine bottles and glasses can be engraved with photos, quotes, or recipient names. Design Your Own Wine is a specialist in making wine bottles & glasses into outstanding gifts with many choices of famous wines and also several packages that are suitable for promotion gifts, retirement gifts, or work anniversaries.
Design Your Own Wine since 2012 has been making wine gift sets with the best quality, and prioritizing customer satisfaction in giving the best gifts for employees.
- Upgraded workspace
Now there are many companies that use hybrid settings for their teams. One of the ways for managers to ensure better team performance, reward your employees with top-tier tech or software to increase the productivity. There are many tools that you can choose for employees such as laptops, monitors, wireless mice, wireless keyboards, etc.
- Prize wheel
Make employees feel happy and have fun with the prize wheel. Every employee is given the opportunity to get one of the prizes in the wheel, and you decide what prizes you will give. Give more than one wheel if the employee has the best performance this month. There are many gifts that you can choose from stationery, clothes, tools, or cash.
- Day pass
Give one or more day off with no notice or no questions asked. Let the employees rest outside the weekend, but you have to notify them in advance so that it seems like they are getting a surprise. You can set day off times by avoiding big meetings or big projects with close deadlines. Giving employees time to take sudden breaks can also reduce stress at work and let the employees refresh their mood and enthusiasm.
- Celebrate small and large milestones
Each team has milestones that must be passed together. Celebrate small or big milestones so higher-ups feel connected with team members. This can provide comfort to employees because apart from being rewarded, the office will have a positive culture by appreciating the progress made by employees. If the company can be transparent with progress, then employees will always be aware of difficult conditions and try to achieve another milestone.
- Let employees keep hydrated
Water is essential for wellness and health. Prepare access to drinking water around the office and get your team some refillable water bottles to keep them hydrated. Sometimes employees will forget to eat or drink because they are too focused on their work. Give positive rules such as every employee must finish one or two bottles of drinks at work time to maintain their focus.
- Casual dress day
If your office has a dress code or uniform, occasionally let your employees dress casually. Apart from providing comfort to employees, they don't have to bother to look their best at work, and feel relaxed while in the office. Especially for women who pay attention to their appearance at work and take a long time to dress up before work.
- Game room
Make a special room as a place for employees to rest and play games with coworkers. You can fill the room with board games, card games, ping-pong tables, or anything that is fun and relaxing. Employees need time to reduce stress and tension while working. With a game room, they can have time for having fun without leaving their job responsibilities.
A company will move forward in a more positive direction if managers and higher-ups care about employees' performance and hard work. Providing rewards to employees provides many benefits to increase productivity, employee retention, and inspiration to work better and keep their good performances. Don't forget to provide the best gifts to your employees as they strive for the best for the company.
