Celebrating Success With Fun Awards at Work
Whether you’re seeking to boost staff retention, raise productivity or improve your company’s overall culture - celebrating employee success with fun awards at work is a strategy that’s proven to work. In today’s professional landscape of tempting offers and increasing employee churn, showing your star employees just how valued they are has never been more crucial.
In this article, we’re sharing 5 employee award ideas that will ensure your top performers feel sufficiently appreciated, while making meaningful improvements at your business’ bottom line. From a day out filled with adventure to a short break in a city of their choice - these creative ideas allow you to show employees your gratitude in a way that feels authentic and personal.
Get in touch to learn more about how Red Letter Days Corporate can help you foster a positive company culture using employee awards and incentives.
Why use employee awards?
Employee awards and recognition are all about acknowledging and rewarding the hard work, accomplishments and contributions of an employee or team when they demonstrate the values, mission or goals of your organisation. An awards ceremony doesn’t need to be Oscar-worthy or draped in diamond-embellished decor. It’s about creating a sincere and emotional bond between your employees and your company.
According to statistics from Officevibe, when asked what leaders could do more to improve engagement, 58% of respondents replied, ‘give recognition’1. If you reward a behaviour, it is more likely to be repeated. Along with encouraging productivity and motivation, giving out fun awards at work will create an unforgettable experience for everyone involved. With generic money vouchers and bottles of champagne lacking the ‘wow factor’, what better way to reward a deserving employee than with memories that they’ll always cherish?
5 Employee award ideas to celebrate success
It’s clear that implementing an employee awards and recognition strategy can be hugely beneficial to your business, but how should you go about putting it into practice? The key is making sure that your employee awards are catered to each individual, pulling on personal interests and providing thoughtful awards that emphasises your gratitude2. Here are 5 employee award ideas that will leave your team feeling happy, valued and motivated to boost their performance:
1. Employee of the year award
We’ll start with the main event, but you might want to save this employee award for the grand finale of your company’s ceremony. While you might be worried about fostering unhealthy competition among your team, presenting your top performer with a ‘best employee award’ can help to encourage excellence and ensure that your business is attracting the very best of professional talent.
It’s important to provide clearly defined criteria when giving out an employee of the year award, as you want to avoid discouraging teamwork and creating an overly-competitive atmosphere in the workplace. Focus on qualities like leadership and improvement when making your decision, or allow your entire team to have a say by presenting the award through a vote-based system.2. Long service award
In a digital world where staff turnover is on the rise and the idea of a ‘job for life’ isn’t quite as appealing as it used to be, showcasing your appreciation for employee loyalty is more important than ever. While there are many ways to honour your more established team members, few prove quite as effective as a long service award.
If you’ve got a star employee who’s been loyal to your business for five years or more, consider presenting them with a meaningful Thank You Gift that illustrates just how grateful you are. Whether it’s a deluxe dining experience or a day out with a partner of their choosing, you can recognise their dedication while ensuring it remains strong for many years to come.
3. Innovation award
A great employee award idea should highlight the qualities and characteristics that you want to see more of in your company. The trailblazers, pathfinders and outside-the-box thinkers among your team can improve performance like few others can, so presenting them with an innovation award is always worthwhile.
Pinpoint a specific team or individual that has consistently produced groundbreaking ideas, and reward them with an experience that’s personalised to their interests. From solo sightseeing adventures to group attractions and tours that will help bond your best minds together, there are endless ways to encourage innovation within your team while ensuring that creative thinking is proven to be valued.
4. Teamwork award
While there’s certainly nothing wrong with showing your leading performers some personal recognition, it’s important to factor qualities like cooperation and teamwork into your list of employee award ideas. Aside from preventing the development of competition and individualism which may harm your company’s performance, presenting a teamwork award will encourage your team to embrace collaboration as a key priority in their day-to-day work.
Extend this award to a team in your business which has consistently demonstrated exceptional levels of collaboration throughout their work, or choose to highlight an individual who goes out of their way to share ideas, help others and promote interdepartmental communication. You might award a group with a meaningful team building day to further develop their bond, or send an exceptional communicator on a solo seaside break to reward them for their contribution.
5. Everyday hero award
When it comes to presenting fun awards at work, few prizes go down quite as well as those given to the unsung heroes among teams. Think of the employee that goes above and beyond in everything that they do, but never seem to seek the spotlight or receive much recognition. This is the everyday hero of your business, and everybody will appreciate the fact that they’re being celebrated for their work.
This is a great award to open up for everyone to vote on, as you’ll receive valuable insights on employee performance that might otherwise have missed your radar. Choose an employee who has exhibited long-term loyalty and consistent excellence, and reward them with a tranquil pampering experience or a soothing spot of afternoon tea.
Why a company’s morals matter when presenting employee awards
A company’s history, public messages and even staff lists are all publicly available information. All it takes is a Google search for a prospective employee to find it3. Company ethics are more important than ever before. Displaying gratitude for your employees not only benefits the lives and work spirit of your team, but it also adds value and a level of respect to your role as a company.
Rewards play a pivotal part in motivating positive behaviours and initiating values in the workplace. Cash is not always the reward of choice among employees. A study by the Incentive Marketing Association found that 65% of employees preferred non-cash incentives4. If you want your company to remain competitive in the hunt for future talent, whilst retaining key employees, it’s important to spend some time defining, perfecting and encouraging your company’s ethical behaviour.
Presenting fun awards at work gives you the chance to honour staff members in a way that reflects the morals of your company in a public and positive light. Along with delivering happiness with our wonderful gift experiences, an employee awards event is the perfect opportunity to lift spirits, have fun and create lasting memories.
1 - Officevibe, Inc., 2016
2 - CIPHR Ltd, 2017
3 - Forbes, 2017
4 - Engagement Trend, 2018