October 14, 2024
Employee Rewarding
What can you do to innovatively celebrate employee milestones? Make them CEO for the day? Commission an artist to do a caricature of them? Create a documentary-style video that includes everyone from colleagues and family on their 10th anniversary? Well, these are all brilliant ideas. In this article, we look at creative ways to recognize employees with 23 ideas that can set a new standard in celebrating their milestones.
Reward your top-performing employees with opportunities to grow their careers. It could include the chance to attend a coveted conference in your niche, be a part of specialized training that can be availed only by a select few, or even fund a course they want to study. When you invest in their professional growth, it shows that you care about their progress and value within the organization.
Offer unique experiences to employees as rewards, especially ones that align with their personal interests. It could be a day at a theme park, free access to pottery or bread-making classes, or even a workation for a week at a popular vacation destination. By tying the reward to your employee’s passions, you are sending across a message that you have taken an interest in finding out what they care about. This makes the recognition even more meaningful.
No employee would say no to paid time off. But what makes it more special is when they were barely anticipating it. The perfect time to offer paid time off is on work anniversaries, when major projects are completed, or when sales goals are met. Time off is an excellent reward since it allows your employees to recharge their batteries and come back to the office feeling refreshed. The surprise element can make it feel like a wonderful gift that they will be truly grateful for.
Build a culture where employees can give shout-outs to each other. It can foster camaraderie and create a sense of belonging for everyone involved. The best part about this type of recognition is that it is immediate and immensely rewarding for all the stakeholders, not just the one receiving the praise.
There will be employees who are passionate about giving back to society or are at least passionate about certain areas. You can recognize the work milestones of such employees by donating to a charity of their choice. This act reinforces your commitment to social responsibility and makes the employee feel good about their choices while someone on the receiving end benefits. It has win-win written all over it.
Create a video montage where the employee’s team members share their experience of working with the employee. It brings your entire team together and is as powerful as P2P recognition programs. Since it’s a highly personal form of recognition, the recipient employee will consider keeping the video tribute as a souvenir.
This is an excellent idea, especially if you work with a remote or hybrid team. Host a virtual recognition party where the only goal is to praise employees for their contributions. When working remotely, it is easy to create a highly transactional environment where meetings are all about deadlines, resources, follow-ups, and whatnot. Unfortunately, that can dampen the spirits of even the most seasonal employees. Virtual recognition meetings are a great way to change this scenario.
Handwritten notes are special and held in high regard because they are so rare these days. In these days of emails and Slack messages, getting a handwritten note from a senior or a manager is special. It shows that they have taken the time to acknowledge the contributions of the employee’s hard work. To make it even more special, the notes can be either delivered personally or in front of everyone at meetings.
Who doesn’t want to get praised on social media, right? Especially from your company’s social media handles. One of the best ways to celebrate employee milestones is by acknowledging their contributions on your official handles. Public acknowledgment offers a huge boost to the employee’s self-confidence, shows how much you value them, and speaks about your culture to your entire audience.
Organize family-friendly events and facilitate employees who have completed milestones of their own. Do remember that your employees’ families also contribute a lot in the background to ensure that the employee gives their best at the workplace. Alternatively, you can also send a “thank you’ package to the employees’ family.
Give your employee who has completed a milestone at work the chance to mentor a junior colleague. You could also allow him to lead a special project that comes with ample responsibilities, as a show of the organization’s belief and trust in their abilities. It will give them the opportunity to be a future leader for the organization. This will add immense self-confidence to the employee and will be something that most of them would love to be recognized with.
Offer the opportunity of a lifetime for the “milestone employee” to be “CEO for the Day.” They can sit in meetings helmed by the leadership team, be a part of the committee that takes key decisions, be asked for opinions on crucial matters, and even be given the honor of taking a new company-wide initiative. This not only allows them to understand how the company functions but also motivates them to take their career to the next level.
Want to make an employee feel special after completing a milestone with your organization? Celebrate their milestone with their entire team. Use the luncheon or dinner as an opportunity to highlight their achievements. It is a simple way to make the employee feel valued and celebrated at the same time. This act also shines a positive light on the company since the other colleagues will also feel that they are part of an organization that cares and celebrates every achievement.
Here’s a way for employees to leave a lasting legacy with the organization. It is a special way to treat those who have completed a milestone. In this case, the employee gets to name something meaningful in the organization. It could be a newly started garden, a conference room, or a pet project.
Organize a surprise flash mob in the office to celebrate the 10th anniversary of an employee. It can be made even more special by personalized posters or a fun dance routine to immortalize the occasion. For milestones like anniversaries, organizations have to make it incredibly special as their long journey with you indicates the employee’s trust and loyalty toward you.
This is a fun way to make the occasion even more memorable. You can commission a caricature of the employee which showcases their achievements and personality. The piece of art can be shared across social media platforms or even hung in a special place in the office.
For employees who have been with you for a long time, you can recognize their contributions with custom jewelry. It can be engraved with their name, and company logo, including the milestone they have achieved.
There are apps like Celewish and TrueFan that allow you to surprise your employees with a personalized video message. Such an unexpected recognition will make the milestone even more special.
Host a special ceremony where everyone who has achieved a milestone in the organization is given a personalized trophy. It could also be any kind of memorabilia that is representative of their contributions to the organization. Add speeches from colleagues at the ceremony to make it even more special and intimate.
Ask your employee’s coworkers, managers, and family members to create a short video where everyone pitches in about how special they are as a person. It could also highlight their achievements at the organization, but the main objective is to celebrate them as a person. It can include personal stories that highlight their impact and show how cherished they are.
Share the achievements and milestones of your employees in exclusive blog articles or company podcasts. Discuss the employee’s journey, contributions, achievements, challenges, wins and losses, etc. It will not only act as a public celebration of their achievements but as something that offers insights to other employees who want to emulate him.
Show that you care for the employee who has hit a milestone by offering them rewards that focus on their health. It could be a gym membership, subscription to meditation apps, spa vouchers, and ayurvedic treatments.
Consider developing a roadmap that makes a note of key employee milestones. It must not just include anniversaries, but also updates on key project completions. The employee can be gifted with milestone points that can be redeemed later in the form of perks, experiences, and gifts.
The need for professional appreciation is never going to die down– everyone wants to feel valued, heard, and appreciated. There are several ways you can do it, starting from offering cash rewards to discounts on company products. The problem is that many of them can come across as uninspiring after a point of time. This is why it is imperative to celebrate milestones in a way that everyone wants to be a part of.
If you are looking to create a stellar reward system that works like a charm and keeps your employees happy, The Reward Store is here to help you. Get in touch with us and we will show you how our product can change your incumbent employee recognition system.
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