How do you boost morale and employee productivity in one fell swoop? Appreciate and reward your employees for a job well done. Following are some suggestions from 100 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman), by Bob Nelson.
1. Authorize managers to walk around with lunch coupons so they can hand them out on the spot.
2. Send an employee to a health spa for a day or weekend.
3. Cover an employee's desk with balloons.
4. Write a "letter of praise" to employees to recognize their contributions and accomplishments.
5. Give an employee a round of golf.
6. Rent a sports car for the employee to drive for a week.
7. Buy an employee something for his or her child.
8. Take an employee to a midday movie.
9. Find out an employee's hobby, and give an appropriate gift.
10. Give an employee a half day off with pay if he or she recommends a person who is hired and makes it past the 90-day probation period.
11. Give an employee a three-day weekend.
12. Pay an employee's parking or traffic ticket.
13. Hewlett-Packard uses informal beer busts in the afternoons to mark special events.
14. Pay for a housecleaning service for an employee's home.
15. An almost infinite variety of food gifts can be used to reward employees.
16. Pay an employee's mortgage for one month.
17. Hold office pools for such high-profile events as the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, the Oscars, the Emmys and the World Series.
18. Buy lunch for the person and three co-workers of his or her choice.
19. Pay all expenses for a weekend, including child care, for a deserving employee.
20. Give each employee one rose for each year of employment on the anniversary of his or her hiring.(Workman)