Think about the last time someone told you what a fantastic job you were doing. It felt like a moment of pride, right?
It’s universally known: Receiving praise makes people feel good about themselves and makes them want to continue doing what they’re doing.
That’s why you should intentionally and regularly recognize your employees for their contributions.
Employee recognition is all about showing appreciation to people or teams for their:
- Excellent day-to-day performance
- Achievement of major performance goals or tenure milestones
- Other above-and-beyond accomplishments, such as generating innovative ideas, identifying new efficiencies or saving the company money
- Embodiment of company values
Employee recognition is critically important for:
- Fostering a positive and supportive workplace culture
- Setting an example within your organization of the type of performance and work ethic you encourage
- Letting employees know how much you value them
- Boosting employee morale, motivation and engagement
- Retaining employees longer
Included here is a list of effective employee recognition ideas for today’s workforce.
Just don’t fall into the one-size-fits-all trap with employee recognition. Not all of these ideas will work for every single company – for example, some companies have primarily onsite employees while others have more remote, distributed workforces. Nor will all these ideas resonate with every employee. The key is to discover what works for your business and team members.
20 meaningful employee recognition ideas
1. Recognition by leadership in front of peers
Public praise is the most tried-and-true way of recognizing employees. Not only do employees want praise, but they want others to know how well they did – and the praise is always most meaningful coming from a position of authority and respect: their manager or another company leader.
Recognition before peers could include a shout-out:
- At a team or companywide meeting
- Via digital communications with employees, such as:
- The company intranet, perhaps in a section dedicated to employee or team achievements (for example, a “wall of fame”)
- An e-newsletter
- Companywide email
- On your company’s social media pages
- In other company publications, such as an annual report or environmental, social and governance (ESG) report (if the recognition is for something particularly noteworthy)
2. Private “thank you” meeting or message
Though less sought-after than public praise, employees always appreciate a sincere thank you from leadership. A personal touch – whether it be a face-to-face meeting, videoconference or phone call – will typically be more effective than an email, text or IM.
3. Peer-to-peer recognition
A close second to public praise from a direct manager or senior leader is public praise from peers. That’s why you should develop a peer-recognition program that encourages colleagues to highlight each other’s strengths and achievements.
This has the added bonus of enhancing workplace relationships and encouraging camaraderie.
4. Customer praise
It’s always meaningful for employees to hear from the people they helped impact through their work. Ask customers (or even vendors) to provide a testimonial for employees who they feel have performed exceptionally well, or who have contributed to their overall positive experience with the company. Be sure to share this feedback with the employee.
5. Gifts from a “favorite things” list
Gifts are a much-appreciated and versatile way to recognize employees. When deciding on gifts, employers can choose from so many options and price points.
However, it’s a great idea to tailor employee recognition to individual preferences rather than giving everyone the same general gift. Why?
- Not everyone enjoys the same thing. You probably have employees of different generations with varied backgrounds and interests – it’s unlikely you’ll find one gift to please them all.
- A personalized reward will be more meaningful to the recipient and therefore more likely to achieve the desired impact and return on investment.
- You can change gifts more easily to prevent them from becoming stale and expected.
When employees first join your company, ask them to fill out a list of their favorite things. Consider dividing the favorite things into categories, such as favorite food, drink, restaurant, hobbies, special indulgences or places to go for fun. When the time comes to recognize that employee, pick a gift from this list.
Or you can simply ask employees how they prefer to be recognized, whether it’s a gift or some other means.
6. Rewards drawing
Rather than handing employees gifts directly, they could be placed into a monthly drawing to win a gift or even popular perks, such as the opportunity to arrive late, leave early or take an extended lunch break one day.
7. Treats or meals
Who doesn’t like good (free) food?
For onsite employees, this could entail bringing an employee breakfast or lunch of their choice, buying them coffee or distributing special treats, such as ice cream or cookies.
For remote employees, you could have a meal, special treat or restaurant gift card delivered to their residence.
8. Additional paid time off (PTO)
In recent years, employees have made it clear that they value workplace flexibility and work-life balance. The prospect of extra PTO can be an extremely powerful motivator.
9. Work-from-home day
If your workplace operates primarily onsite or you allow employees to work on a hybrid basis, the potential for a work-from-home day can be as enticing as extra PTO. Again, this is about employees’ desire for flexibility and work-life balance.
10. VIP parking spot
Few things are more frustrating at the start of a workday than not being able to find a good parking spot at the office. Of course, all the best spots are taken first and no employee enjoys trudging the longer distance. That’s why earning a reserved, close-in parking spot for a week or even a month is often a popular reward for exemplary onsite or hybrid employees.
11. Lunch with the boss
For many employees, getting face-to-face time with a company leader is an invaluable opportunity.
So, reward employees by treating them to lunch at the location of their choice. Keep work-related discussions to a minimum. Instead, get to know them more on a personal level and learn about their hobbies and interests. This should be a fun, casual conversation.
12. Special projects
One of the most important factors in employee retention is team members feeling like they have a path forward in an organization, including ongoing opportunities to learn, grow and develop. Employees want to stretch their skills and showcase their expertise.
Give your high-performing employees an opportunity to work on or lead special projects beyond their regular responsibilities to:
- Recognize their accomplishments
- Demonstrate your confidence in them
- Signal that you care enough to invest in their personal development
13. Learning and development activity
Along these same lines, is there a certain seminar, conference or other educational opportunity that’s of particular interest to an exceptional employee? As a reward, let the employee participate.
14. Ambassador assignment
Gaining a more comprehensive view of an organization and acquiring new skills are important for employees who want to advance into leadership.
For these employees, you could invite them to:
- Represent their department at a meeting they typically would not attend
- Transfer to a new role for a designated period
- Join another department or team for a designated period
Known as cross-training, this is a high-value reward for driven employees.
When the experience has concluded, have these employees report back to their team to share what they learned.
15. VIP meet-and-greet
Networking with senior leaders and key customers is a critical part of career advancement and is a desirable reward for some employees.
16. Covering certain personal expenses
Amid economic uncertainty and rising inflation, many employees are concerned about their personal expenses. The cost of many goods and services has increased significantly over the past few years. For employees, some financial support for common, day-to-day expenses – such as gas or groceries – is a thoughtful and extremely helpful means of recognition.
17. Offsite outing
If an entire team has earned a reward, an out-of-office excursion to a local destination can be a great way to celebrate them. For example, take them bowling or go to a sports game or theater performance. You could allow your team members to vote on what they’d prefer to do so they feel included and given a sense of ownership.
18. Team shopping spree
Your team’s offsite adventure could also involve a mall or large retailer with diverse merchandise.
Let’s say your team hit a number-based milestone, such as a sales goal. Take that number and use it as the basis for a celebration. For example, if you sold 16,425 products, give each employee $164.25 and allow them 164.25 minutes to spend as much of the money as possible on themselves. When time is up, reconvene team members to share with the group what they bought.
19. Traveling trophy
Create a trophy that is passed around among employees based on being “caught” doing something outstanding. Get creative and engage in the humor to make this fun – it could be a golden object, a silly hat or a figurine, for example.
20. Charitable donation or team service project
Many employees – particularly younger Gen Z workers – are more community focused and want to know that their company shares their values and commitment to certain causes.
An enticing reward for them might be a company donation to the charity of their choice or the opportunity to volunteer for a service project.
Summing it all up
Employee recognition is very important to the overall health of the employer-employee relationship. People want and need to feel valued for the work they do. Employers must identify ways to keep their team members motivated, engaged, productive and satisfied so they will stay at their workplace for the long term and produce the highest-quality work. Here, we’ve outlined 20 effective employee recognition ideas for your company to consider. When implementing any of these ideas, first consider the demands of your business along with the preferences and interests of your workforce.
Interested in learning more about how to retain stand-out employees? Download our free e-book: How to develop a top-notch workforce that will accelerate your business.