Rewarding your employees for excellent performance is a great way to show you recognise and appreciate their hard work. While giving a monetary bonus is a kind gesture, it can feel a little impersonal. Other rewards, such as a party in their honour, can make the employee feel like their company has made the extra effort to acknowledge everything they have done. This simple act will naturally give a major boost to office morale.  

Going the extra mile to give employees a specialised reward will also benefit staff retention. Studies show that office culture is important when it comes to happiness at work. Employees will stay for the long-term if they are happy and feel like their company cares about them as an individual. For managers, it’s their responsibility to let employees know when they are doing a good job and reward them.

Rather than rewarding employees with money, consider using these thoughtful alternatives instead.  

1. Extra Holiday Days

Giving extra holiday days to employees who outperform is a strong motivator. While it can be argued that extra holiday days is very similar to giving someone a bonus, having extra days off is more personal. That is another day for an employee to spend with friends and family, and take time off away from work.

2. Offer Flexible Working Hours

Having flexible working hours means employees have more control on when they work and they can manage work/life balance with more flexibility. Offering flexible working hours to high performers shows you’re happy to give them more independence. Employees who feel their managers trust them, feel happier and more motivated.

Along with flexible working, you can also offer high performers the opportunity to work from home. Giving employees the chance to work independently away from the office shows you have confidence in them to do their job, no matter the location. In fact, a study in 2016 showed the number of people who work from home has increased by nearly a quarter of a million. If there are any high performers who have responsibilities at home, the option to work from home will be appreciated.

3. An Office Party In Their Honour

Just like having a standing ovation, having a party in your honour is an event dedicated to celebrating your achievements. For an employee, having an event entirely dedicated to them will show you truly appreciate everything they do for the company. As everyone else can get involved, it can offer a positive boost to morale. You can ask other people to assist you in organising the event so it becomes a collaborative activity. 

4. Spin The Wheel – Let The Wheel Decide Their Prize

If you like to give a shout out every month to employees who have excelled, you could use a spinning wheel to decide their prize. Create a list of prizes and leave it up to fate on what prize they receive. Make sure you choose different types of prizes (holiday days, food, vouchers, etc) so there will be prizes that appeal to everyone. It will motivate everyone to get involved and work harder to win a shot at spinning the wheel.

5. Training Opportunities

There are many ideas for rewarding employees without money but if you want to give staff an especially meaningful gift, consider offering training opportunities. The staff who are being rewarded have shown exceptional performance and results, offering further training options gives them a chance to expand their skills and experience.

Talk to the employee to see what direction they want to take in their career. You can organise time with a senior member of the company for the employee to shadow them or look at industry events, workshops and seminars they could attend.