Looking for unique and creative staff awards ideas? We’ve tried to cover all the bases here ranging from awards you’ll find in lots of businesses to those that will be unique to you.
We’ve even thrown in some creative ways to present your awards to really help recognise and reward your employees in style.
Employee awards are a simple, yet really effective way of showing appreciation for your team.
Awards benefit from being incredibly timely and can be highly personalised, just two of the many important elements of effective reward and recognition.
So, take a look through and pick out some awards that will resonate the most with your employees.
- GUIDE: The complete guide to reward and recognition
- PLATFORM: See how our market-leading, low-cost reward and recognition platform works
The staple staff award ideas
Some awards have been so popular they’ve been handed out in workplaces everywhere for decades and continue to be used to this day.
These “go-to” awards are often expected by employees.
That said, the cliché nature of these awards can be a little off-putting for some managers.
However, they’re not to be underestimated and can be customised to suit your company values or internal brand.
Long service award
For any organisation, this is a must. Loyalty is often hugely undervalued and long serving staff are part of the foundations of your business.
Not only will the employee feel more appreciated, but others will see how much you value everyone in the business, particularly those who are loyal.
Anniversary award
Take the time to recognise when the employee joined and how long they’ve been at the company to the day.
The more years they’ve been at the company the bigger the award they get.
Employee of the month/quarter award
This is probably one of the most used of all the staff awards ideas. Recognising employees for their performance is hugely important.
Whether it’s every month or every quarter it’s up to you. According to research, less than 30% of all staff feel valued by their bosses.
Performance award
This could be for someone in the sales team who’s brought in the most clients/customers for the month, a customer service advisor who’s received the best feedback, or someone who’s generally performed well in their role in the last month.
It could also be for an employee who has overcome significant pressure or difficulty in their role. Recognising your overachievers is key!
Creative office awards ideas
Creative awards set your recognition apart from that of other employers.
One key aspect of effective recognition is the effort behind it.
The more creative and personalised your rewards are the more likely they are to be well received.
Going above and beyond award
Pick out someone who’s gone the extra mile or done something out of the ordinary. It doesn’t always have to be work related either.
Maybe someone has done something nice for a colleague or raised money for charity? It doesn’t even have to be a regular award.
Simply hand this award out as and when you wish! Of all the staff awards ideas this is one of the most thoughtful.
Team Impact Award
Maybe there’s a department or a team that’s achieved something significant for the company recently? It could be that they’ve overcome difficult circumstances and continued to deliver.
Rewarding them will not only make them feel valued but will let everyone in the business know what they’ve achieved and how important it is for the company.
Newcomer Award
Are you a fast growing company? If you’ve taken on lots of new hires recently this could be a great staff award.
To make the award fair, try and stick to a particular time frame. For example, employees who have joined in the last year but have been part of the team for at least 3 months.
The usual performance review is great, but an award on top of that is even better.
Leadership award
This doesn’t necessarily have to apply to someone leading a successful team or department. It could be that one of your managers has helped an employee develop their skills and deliver success.
Listen to your employees and see if they credit someone in particular for their successes.
Chairman award
Whether it’s the Chairman, CEO, Founder, Co-founder, Managing Director or otherwise, receiving an award from a senior figure in the business means a lot to any employee.
If there’s someone who has impressed the boss, give them a personalised award and let them know they’re appreciated.
Health & fitness award
Chances are there’s someone in the business who’s turned their health around or exceeded their fitness goals.
Whether it’s weight loss/gain, quitting bad health habits or even achieving something like completing a marathon, let the person know you’ve recognised their achievements.
This award shows the importance of switching up your staff awards ideas to suit everyone.
Peer-to-Peer award
The best office awards ideas don’t just involve bosses. Give your employees a chance to award each other.
Employees could come together and decide there’s someone on their team they’d all like to award.
Retirement award
Retirement is a major event in a person’s life. A retirement award shows that you recognise all that they’ve achieved, not just in the time at your company but in their career as a whole.
A retirement award can help you create a fitting end to a person’s career, which can mean a huge amount to someone particularly if they’ve been a part of your organisation for a long time.
Volunteer award
Volunteers who offer their time, both individually and as a collective, provide invaluable support for charities and organisations who often depend on their selfless contribution!
Those who volunteer and go out of their way to help others should always be rewarded.
Award in style
How you present your awards can make a big difference too.
Thinking outside the box here can make your awards resonate even better and can be a great opportunity to show the rest of your team and those outside the company that you’re committed to recognising your employees for everything they do.
Post on social media
Take a picture and post it on the company social media, with the person’s consent, and tag them in.
Giving staff a shout-out on social media shows everyone inside and outside the business just how much you value them.
Your own awards event
A great way to show appreciation is to take the team out for a meal or drinks and create your very own internal awards event.
This is a great opportunity to take all of your staff awards ideas and present them in a fun and relaxed setting.
Birthday awards
Take the opportunity to make the employee’s day that bit better (providing they aren’t on annual leave of course!) by awarding them on their birthday.
Have a company trophy
It doesn’t always have to be a trophy, it could be something related to the company that gets passed around to people who receive an award.
Think of something that is unique and represents your business, its culture or something that is either interesting, funny or useful.
Wall of fame
You may have heard of this one before, but having a wall of fame is a great way to show everyone who’s been rewarded recently.
It’s also a great way to show how far employees have come in their time with you.
The more creative your office awards ideas are, the better. Create awards that are unique to your business, timely and thoughtful and you’ll be on to a winner.
Host your employee awards on a purpose-built Reward and Recognition platform
Through reward and recognition technology, host your employee awards, rewards and peer-to-peer recognition all on one purpose-built, centralised platform.
Our reward and recognition platform helps businesses:
- Facilitate peer-to-peer recognition through personalised ECards
- Host personalised employee awards in one centralised location, alongside other employee benefits
- Reward employees with monetary and non-monetary rewards quickly and effectively
- Drive effective reward and recognition in a new working world through an innovative digital platform.
To find out more, head over to our Reward and Recognition overview page. Or to try it for yourself, get in touch for a free demo.
