Innovative Employee Recognition Ideas For The Modern Workplace

Rewards and recognition are the most underrated programs that companies use to improve employee motivation. Even the companies that organize events to reward top-performing employees follow such a templatized and impersonal format that it fails to bring desired results. 

Companies need to understand that the rewards and recognition program is not just about awards, but genuine appreciation of the work that employees put in. Companies that want to keep their workforce satisfied and contribute to business growth must invest time and resources in creating meaningful rewards and recognition programs.

In this blog post, we will share rewards and recognition ideas that you can easily implement to experience the desired outcome.

Innovative Ideas for Employee Recognition

There is no small or big gesture when recognizing an employee. The purpose of rewards and recognition must be to make them feel valued and appreciated. You can do this by a mix of different acts. 

1. Surprise employees with lunch or sweet treats: Offer sponsored meals to your employees on busy work days to express your gratitude for putting in extra work. It could be something as simple as pizzas or samosas.
2. Recognize employees on social media: Most employees have a vibrant social (media) life and if you take your appreciation there via a shout-out on social media pages, it can go a long way in motivating them to do better.
3. Offer extended breaks: Allowing employees to blow off steam once in a while is a good way to show that you care about their well-being. You can do this by allowing longer breaks or extended lunch hours. When they return to work, they will be even more energized.
4. Pass out a rotating trophy: You can create a fun trophy like a character figurine and use that to reward an employee who has done exceptional work. Instead of giving it away completely, you can hand it over to the victor for about a month after which a new employee can be picked.
5. Host an Employee Appreciation Day: Having an entire day where you celebrate your employees can be a great rewards and recognition idea. You can conduct this annually or half-yearly, and plan team-building exercises. Better yet, you can plan an outing where you can have your awards ceremony.
6. Provide professional development opportunities: One great reward and recognition idea is to help your employees upskill. You can do this by sponsoring certification courses or purchasing a corporate subscription for an educational program.
7. Celebrate the small, daily wins: You can conduct a daily end-of-the-day recognition meeting, where you celebrate employee or team wins. It can be a great way to close the working day, which will have your employees looking forward to the next day at work.
8. Create an employee wall of fame: It might seem like a bit too much, but having an employee wall of fame will work wonders. It is a rewards and recognition idea that publicly celebrates top performers, while also motivating others to improve their performance in pursuit of a place on the wall.
9. Send a card: Oftentimes, managers underestimate the power of sharing a simple, handwritten appreciation note. Although it doesn’t cost much, a personal note or a card will be a gesture that will be memorable and personal to the employees.
10. Implement a peer-recognition program: To ensure a positive workplace and effective collaboration between teams, you must plan a peer-to-peer rewards and recognition program. When employees are made to appreciate each other, they will realize the contributions that their peers are making and it makes them more respectful towards one another.
11. Host a private lunch: Take your teams out for lunch when they achieve something remarkable like completing a product, onboarding a new client, or getting appreciated by a customer. When employees realize that such wins matter to the company, they will try to achieve more of such milestones.
12. Provide teams with a discretionary rewards budget: Empower your managers to conduct rewards and recognition programs within their teams by allotting a budget that they can spend at their discretion.
13. Give personalized swag: Understanding employees’ personal preferences and rewarding them with tailored swag items will be an effective move. It tells employees that their managers understand their preferences, which will create a loyal bond with the company.
14. Publish a yearbook: Create an annual yearbook to showcase the top achievements of your employees. Such a move will not only motivate your current employees but also encourage new joiners to aim for achievement by giving their best.

Zaggle Propel: Robust solution for innovative recognition programs

Having an innovative rewards and recognition program is just one part of the strategy. For it to be effective, you must implement it seamlessly. To do that, we recommend Zaggle Propel, an employee recognition automation solution that reduces your administrative tasks by 90%. You can set up multiple workflows within the platform to have more than one rewards and recognition program including peer recognition. Zaggle Propel also provides you with AI-based reports so that you can track the employee participation and effectiveness of your programs.

Learn about the capabilities of Zaggle Propel in detail here.