Most people are motivated by money to do well at their job, but employee recognition is equally important if you want enthusiastic, motivated employees working with you.
In difficult economic times, when money isn’t necessarily available to reward employees, creative employee recognition ideas can certainly come in handy.
Ideas for rewarding employees in creative ways are limited only by your imagination!
Pro Tip: When acknowledging an employee’s good work, keep in mind that not all people appreciate the same type of recognition. Some employees may want their recognition given publicly, while others prefer a more private acknowledgement of a job well done.
Here are some creative employee-of-the-month recognition ideas to start your creative juices flowing.
Thoughtful Ideas:
- Handwritten thank-you card
- Letter of appreciation in employee’s file
- Recognition posted on employee bulletin board
- Recognition in the company newsletter
- Verbal praise either privately or at a company gathering
- Take the employee out to lunch
- Send the employee to a conference she/he wants to attend
- Ask the employee to represent his/her department at a meeting
- Give the employee company merchandise (shirt, hat, coffee mug, etc.)
- Award certificate
- Plaque
- Banner
- Larger work space
- Better equipment
- Privileges (leaving early, work-from-home, etc.)
Obviously, these ideas can work for any type of employee recognition–not just employee-of-the-month awards. Use these and any other ideas you can think of to remind your employees how valuable they are to the company. Remember that positive reinforcement is a great motivator!
PaperDirect has a full line of employee recognition tools perfect for all types of companies.
