Making employees feel valued, appreciated, and recognized can be accomplished in large part by giving them awards. It’s simple to overrate material factors and underestimate the emotional aspect of employee retention. Although competitive pay, bonuses, and benefits are important, how you treat employees may be just as important in attracting and keeping top talent.

Giving employee awards has several advantages, including:

  • Increases morale – Giving out awards to employees lowers stress levels at work and offers significant positive reinforcement.
  • Aids in recruitment – When staff members are exposed to a welcoming workplace environment, they naturally want to spread the word and assist in attracting new talent.
  • Raises employee satisfaction – Happy workers provide better customer service, are more inclined to take initiative, and are more concerned with the company’s success.

Employee satisfaction is critical to the success of any organization. It’s one of the best places to find productivity, creativity, and loyalty. Unfortunately, employee awards don’t always come easy. You want to make sure your recognition is meaningful and effective. That’s why we’ve put together this list of nine employee award ideas that will make a lasting impression on your employees.

Corporate Values Award

The Corporate Values Award is exactly what your team needs to reinforce company values. Instead of posting your company values around the office or going over them at every meeting, show them off through this awesome award that acknowledges them for exhibiting the virtues your company promotes!

The best way to celebrate this employee award at your company is to design an award that highlights a different value each month. For instance, if one of the values of your business is teamwork, you might present a prize to the group that collaborates most effectively or moves a project along the fastest.

Above & Beyond Award

An employee award called the Above & Beyond Award is given to the team member who demonstrates the greatest initiative and willingness to go above and beyond the tasks listed in their job description. The recipient of this prize best embodies the definition of a “team player.”

Giving this award to the employee who goes above and beyond their task is one way to recognize this employee’s contributions to your company. A company meeting or all-hands call is a good opportunity to thank them for their efforts. You could also thank them for their dedication by giving them a trophy and a gift card.

Superstar Award 

Employees who consistently receive shoutouts from their coworkers are presented with the Shoutout Superstar Award. Being praised by management is one thing, but receiving praise from your peers is quite another. This award is just the icing on the cake for how well-liked they are on their team.

Present the Superstar Award at your next team meeting to commemorate this employee’s honor at your company. Ask their teammates to elaborate on the reasons they should receive the honor while praising them in a setting like this one for social recognition.

Rising Star Award

The Rise & Shine Award is the ideal award for employees who arrive at work each morning with so much vigor that they serve as your team’s living coffee. The mood for the remainder of the workday is set by this ray of sunshine!

Enthusiastic Learner Award

The recipient of the Enthusiastic Learner Award is an employee who is constantly trying to pick up new knowledge or abilities. When you have talent and a growth mindset, your business will prosper. 

Your competitors are constantly looking for ways to gain an advantage. If you have employees who want to do the same, you should be able to outperform the competition! Ask your staff what kinds of skills they would like to learn but haven’t had a chance to: this is one way to honor this employee award at your company. Enrolling your coworkers in an online course or program can significantly increase their potential.

Team Player Award

An honor given to individuals or entire teams is the Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork Award. As you may have guessed, teamwork is the focus of this particular award. This award is intended to give the givers some love in many ways. The engine runs because of these unsung heroes, who are the gears. Team players sometimes get overlooked in the excitement of collective victories, but the recipient of this award will feel like an MVP!

The Team Player Award is given to the team member who consistently supports their coworkers, offers assistance, and generally makes everyone’s lives easier. Employees occasionally encounter circumstances that require them to go above and beyond the scope of their job descriptions and to support one another as a company grows. 

Customer First Award

For employees who frequently interact with customers directly, the Customer First Award is especially important. This honor could, however, also be given to a worker who makes the best impression on clients and consistently converts them into loyal patrons by providing superior service.

The Customer First Award is an honor given to team members in your company who go above and beyond the call of duty to guarantee customer satisfaction. Ideally, the person with the most victories in concrete metrics, such as customer reviews, should receive this award.

Best Communicator Award

The Best Communicator Award is given to an employee who excels at communicating, whether it be verbally, through Slack, email, or another channel. In the office, communication is essential. It’s a delicate balance to maintain professionalism, cohesion, relevance, and warmth.

Because mastering workplace communication is a valuable skill, the Best Communicator Award should be bestowed upon a worthy recipient. Communication is essential. So, celebrating this award means conveying to your employee that their contribution is valued

Collaborator Award

The recipient of the Collaborator Award has proven to be a master collaborator. This is different from the TeamWork award in that it emphasizes specific instances of collaboration and projects individually.

Collaboration is essential in the workplace, which is why this employee award is significant. We can all remember how it felt to work on a group project in class where only one person did the work. The coworker who always manages to fit right in, no matter who they’re working with or what the task is, wins the Collaborator Award!

At the end of the day, these approachable employee awards will help you lead an empowered workforce. And empowered employees are more likely to stick with your company and to be highly motivated by their work. They’re also going to have more successful interactions with coworkers and customers, which can positively affect your bottom line as well.

Custom Trophies and Awards in Texas

Whether your recipient is the ultimate fan or the hardest-working player, Hill Country Awards and Trophies can create a one-of-a-kind award, personalized to reflect your company, team, or organization. All items can be designed to your specifications. Visit our website to learn more about our products and services!