A motivated and engaged workforce is key to achieving long-term success for your organisation. While grand employee awards and annual bonuses have their place, it’s the small, everyday acts of appreciation that truly make a difference in boosting morale and fostering a positive work environment.
From personalised notes of appreciation to spontaneous team lunches and opportunities for professional development, this blog explores a variety of ideas which will help you create an atmosphere of appreciation and recognition in your workplace.
- Bring them breakfast
Get to know your employee’s favourite breakfast foods, and surprise them by bringing in some delicious food to start the day right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and there’s no better way to set your team up for a productive, positive day. Bring in coffees, croissants, bacon sandwiches, fruit, and set them up on a communal table for people to enjoy as they filter in. Alternatively, hold your morning meeting centred around the goodies – even better if it’s a Monday!
- “Welcome to work” station
Similar to starting their day off right, a “welcome to work” station also works for shift workers who come in later or at varying times throughout the day. Set up a table near the entrance of your office and fill it with coffee, juice, soda and snacks for your team to grab when they arrive, and don’t forget to place lots of positive messages around the area!
- Service milestone celebrations
Limelight Square Award Tapered Portrait Anniversary Award
Show appreciation to your employees by celebrating service milestones, big and small – first week, first month, first year, then every year onwards, with particularly big celebrations for large anniversaries like five years and ten years. The celebrations can be anything from a team lunch paid for by the company to a personalised reward perfect for the individual. It’s important to find out how your employees like to celebrate, and to plan accordingly – maybe an extra day of annual leave would mean more to them!
For those bigger milestones, consider gifting your loyal employee with a 3D engraved crystal long service award, personalised for your brand with their name and achievement. This is something they can keep forever!
- Birthday celebrations
Much like with long service milestones, find out how your employee would like to celebrate their birthday and listen to them! This can be just as rewarding as the celebration itself. Give your employee the day off or an extra day of their choosing to take whenever they’d like. A celebration with the rest of the team can also be a great way to strengthen the team as well as celebrate a birthday, so think about taking everyone for a day out, out for a meal or, for huge birthdays, even a weekend away.
- Give them extra time off
On that note, extra time off in general can be a great employee incentive reward. Give your employees a day off for their birthday, or as part of a ‘thank you’ after they’ve worked hard on a big project. Extra days off can also be used as a prize in friendly competitions!
- Invest in their development
It’s very important to invest in the development of your employees by giving them opportunities to expand their skills and knowledge. Let them find courses they’re interested in and pay for them, or you can even give each employee an annual development fund to make sure everyone has a chance to get involved. You can also sign them up for industry seminars, exhibitions or conferences.
- New office equipment
Reward your employees by upgrading the company’s office equipment regularly, including desk chairs, computers, monitors, keyboards and telephones. It can be frustrating to sit on an uncomfortable chair and fight with a slow PC every day, so ask your employees what they’d like to see updated and follow accordingly!
- Handwritten thank you notes
Celebrate the smaller, everyday successes by writing a handwritten note of thanks to an employee. Taking the time to be specific about what they’ve done well and the impact it had will make your employee feel appreciated, and it costs absolutely nothing! A handwritten note can also go alongside many of the other gifts for employees on this list to make the message of the gift clearer.
- Personalised gifts
Personalised gifts can serve as a fun and memorable way to reward your employees: think name-embossed notebooks, printed mouse mats and personalised pens. If you don’t think your employee is the type to enjoy something like this, get to know their interests and get them something relating to that instead!
- Gift cards
If you’re short on time or not sure what an employee would like, get them a gift card! You can get gift cards for virtually any brand nowadays, so you’ll be sure to find one that suits your team members. Gift cards are a great way to say thanks!
- Peer-to-peer recognition
Receiving positive feedback and recognition from peers at work can make employees feel appreciated and build stronger relationships between team members. Fellow employees can often see a lot more of your day-to-day hard work first-hand as opposed to upper management, so praise and thanks from them is invaluable. Encourage employees to share this feedback, whether on an in-office bulletin board, via email or as a one-to-one conversation.
- Care packages
Put together a care package for an employee who has recently been going through something or has completed a stressful project. You can order care packages online, or, better yet, take the time to put something together yourself. Create a self-care package with facemasks, soft slippers and bath salts, or other unique items you know your employee would love. This is a sure-fire way to show you care, and reward your team for all their hard work!
- Team shopping spree
As an alternative to cash bonuses, consider taking your team on a shopping spree to celebrate profits, acquisitions or project completion. Pick a number which is relevant to what you’re celebrating – for example, if your extra profits totaled £10,000, give £100 to each employee to spend within an allotted time limit. Add the extra challenge of spending the money only on themselves, and get everyone back together afterwards to show-and-tell what they’ve bought.
- Achievement awards
Verbier Crystal Award Square Glass Award
Awards needn’t only be reserved for service milestones and end-of-year ceremonies. There’s no shortage of achievements for which you can award employees to show your recognition and appreciation. Examples include awards for those who go above and beyond, those who drive growth, the best team players and those with strong skills or knowledge in certain areas.
3D engraved crystal awards make these achievements feel even more special, especially when they are personalised for each individual. Creating something like this for your employees to aspire to will encourage even more hard work!
- Coffee shop meetings
Whether it’s a development one-to-one or a project meeting on a Thursday afternoon, taking your employees out to a coffee shop and footing the bill is a great, simple way to reward your employees. The change in scenery and promise of a coffee and a cake will give your team a burst of energy and make them feel appreciated and valued.
- Fun competitions
A little competition can be a good thing! Encourage your employees to work together and have fun – competitions can also serve as ice-breakers if you have new team members. You can go with something completely non-work-related like World Cup sweepstakes, or try some workplace bingo where the squares include things like ‘send ten emails’, ‘convert a sale’ or ‘say the phrase “circle back” to someone in another department’.
- Wall of fame
Showcase your employees’ achievements for everyone to see in a busy corridor or reception area. Fill the wall with glowing reviews from customers about particular employees, and details about recent achievements, in and out of work. This can also be a great place to put your ‘employee of the month’ announcements!
- Amazon wish lists
If you’re not sure what your employees may like for gifts, whether for their birthday or ‘just because’, ask them to make an Amazon wishlist. This can be a great way to subtly find out what sort of things they like or to surprise them with a gift when they’re least expecting it.
Incorporating daily rewards into your leadership style is a powerful tool for nurturing a positive work environment, boosting employee engagement, and driving overall success. Remember, it’s the small acts of appreciation that have the greatest impact.
By taking the time to recognise and reward your employees’ efforts every day, you not only show them that their work is valued, but you also create a culture of support and camaraderie.
At Laser Crystal, we create bespoke 3D crystal awards for the most memorable of ceremonies. As the UK’s leading 3D engravers, each crystal art creation is made from flawless optical quality crystal, forming awards and gifts that you are proud to present.
From employee recognition awards and long service awards to sports awards and achievement awards, every order can be fully customised to suit your needs.
Browse our full range or let us know your requirements and we can recommend a selection of shapes and designs.