10 Creative Ways to Reward a Hard Working Team

Showing appreciation for the employees is an essential part of employee relationships management for all organizations. Recognizing an employee’s hard work encourages them to keep up their efforts. It motivates the other employees to step up to gain the management’s favor. A regular system of lucrative employee rewards is also shown to impact workforce retention and reduce turnover significantly.

So, if you have identified some hard-working teams in your organization who deserve a little something special for their hard work, then read on to find some very innovative ideas that your employees will appreciate.

10 reward ideas your employees will love

Festival bonuses, sales commissions, and employee of the month schemes are some of the most popular forms of employee rewards in most organizations. But nowadays, only these once-in-a-blue-moon rewards are no longer enough to satisfy the workforce. Employers are looking to incorporate some smaller, but effective rewards into their daily scheme of operations:

1.  Make travel more comfortable

In many organizations, employees have to travel regularly for their jobs. Client meetings and sales call all require employees to travel quite frequently. Usually, most companies have a dedicated travel budget for their employees. Still, this budget can be quite tight for smaller companies and make it stressful for the employees to take longer trips. But now, management can use TravelPerk for small business travel so that their dedicated workers can meet clients and customers with the highest level of comfort and safety.

2.  Gift cards 

Allow your team leaders and managers to have a monthly gifting budget so that whenever an employee completes a project well or comes up with a great idea to solve a problem, they can be given a small gift. Every employee has different interests, and buying gifts can also be a time-taking process, so a way to make the task easier for the managers is to hand out gift cards for groups. Employees can use the gift card budget to buy anything they like. This kind of gift for a job well done is highly motivating for employees.

3.  Company merchandise 

An easy way to show appreciation for your employees and inculcate a sense of loyalty is to gift them merchandise with company branding. Most medium to large-scale companies chooses to gift their employees with clothes, accessories and even home appliances that have the company branding on them. Periodically giving company-branded products makes employees happy and ensures they market the company whenever they use their company-branded gifts.

4. Cherish the Memories

Have you ever thought about showcasing your employees' photos in an attractive way as a gesture? Gather any pictures you have of them and either print them out or make collages for a more striking effect. You can use platforms like Wallpics to create stunning canvas prints. These make wonderful gifts for your employees. They can use these pictures or collages to add a personal touch to their workspace.

This thoughtful gesture not only brightens their workspace but also serves as a constant reminder of the valued moments shared at the workplace. It's a great way to boost morale and show appreciation for their hard work.

5.  Community building activities

One of the best rewards for employees with stressful work schedules is a few hours of relaxed fun with their friends and colleagues. Companies are now catering to this need with the help of various team activities that help to build lasting bonds within the team and also provide a bit of fun for everyone involved. Escape room games, weekly dine-outs, quizzes, and even sports activities are some of the most popular in-person team-building games.

It has been found that organizations with regular team-building exercises have better collaboration within the workforce and a more cooperative working environment. So these activities good for the employees' mental health and are great from the company’s profit-making perspective.

6.  WFH/Flexi-timing

A good reward for a hard-working team can be a bit of extra freedom in their workday. An extra work-from-home day or a day where they are allowed Flexi-timing can help employees to break up their daily boring routine and find new excitement in their work. This extra flexibility allows employees to spend more time with their friends and family and return to regularly scheduled activities more enthusiastically.

7.  Celebrate career landmarks

In today’s corporate world, employees are changing jobs like they change clothes. Most companies are struggling under the weight of extremely high labor turnover rates. So, rewarding employees who have shown loyalty to the company is very important to encourage others also to follow the same path. A good way to reward long-term employees is by celebrating career landmarks. Yearly anniversaries of starting their relationship with the company are the most common celebration marker. 

The employee can be recognized in a company meeting and given special personalized gifts to make the occasion more special. This will deepen the bond between the employee and the company and motivate the employee to give their all for the company's betterment.

8.  Office space

Employees spend a major share of their day inside their office every day. So a very effective reward for a good employee can be a nice, swanky office space with a view. The coveted ‘corner office’ is a great motivator for employees and can be the best reward for an employee who has shown true dedication and commitment to their work. 

Sometimes, suppose entire office spaces cannot be allocated to one employee. In that case, the team that has performed well can be given some special office amenities like upgraded computers, better monitors, desks, etc.

9.  Professional development

Employees are more likely to stay with an organization if they feel they are developing their skills portfolio by working with it. So most companies now offer certain opportunities for their best employees to take various training courses and seminars and update their skill set. This provides personal satisfaction to the employee and is also helpful for the company since the employee will now be more capable of handling particular tasks. 

But companies must also realize that they will have to balance the employee’s workload while attending their training so that the employee does not get overwhelmed with pressure.

10.  Paid vacation

Hardworking employees spend most of their time and energy completing their work and meeting deadlines. These employees deserve to be appreciated and given some much-needed time off. A company-paid vacation at an exotic location is an ideal reward for the most sincere workers. 

They will be able to relax for a few days away from the pressure of work, and when they come back to work, they will be more ready than ever to do their best again to win similar rewards in the future. Paying for a vacation and getting enough time off to take a break are both highly coveted prizes in the corporate sphere and have encouraged employees to work harder.

11.  Stock options

The best way to ensure that an employee remains dedicated and hard-working is by making the employee an integral part of the company. This can be achieved by giving employees stock options to own a part of the company and develop a sense of attachment to it. Special stock rewards for long-term employees and bonus stocks for high-performing employees are all great methods for making employees part owners and drastically reducing labor turnover. 

But of course, to give out stocks to employees, companies should carefully plan out their IPO and other growth plans ahead of time so that there are no financial or compliance-related issues in the future.

Will rewarding employees help your organization?

In today’s corporate world every company has to work really hard to retain its workforce. Office amenities like activity areas, good food options, and ergonomic work desks are all important elements to keep employees happy and satisfied in the workplace. Some company activities like annual parties and award functions also boost morale within the organization, and in turn help you keep talented employees.

But a more personalized effort must also be made to retain individual employees. The ten strategies listed above help make each employee feel like they are being noticed and appreciated by the management for their hard work.

As humans, it is natural for us to seek validation for our efforts. Hence, the basic principle is for the management to stop acting like generic leaders and take personal interest in the employees. Giving an employee a gift that suits their hobby or taking a team out to lunch after a successful project delivery will build lasting connections in the workplace and help create a smooth vertical communication system.

It is also essential for management to understand that some employees will leave the team due to personal and professional reasons. Giving these employees a good sendoff and useful recommendations will ensure that the employee will speak highly of their previous employer in their new work setting. This will help the company gain new prospective employees, and the old employee may also change their minds and return to their previous company after a few months/years.

So, if you are working with the HR or management of any organization, remember that your employees need to feel a personal human touch in all interactions, and they need to feel appreciated for their efforts to create a healthy and sustainable work culture within the organization.