There are a lot of ways to recognize your employees. But many of these ideas can be a bit dry, dull, or expensive. So we’ve come up with some creative yet inexpensive recognition ideas for you that will bring some laughter to the workplace.

Competition

Many holidays during the year offer great opportunities for fun employee recognition ideas, such as Presidents Day, Valentine’s Day, or April Fool’s Day, where people may expect pranks to be pulled on them. But Why not reward the hard workers with competition instead of a joke?

There are lots of ways to conduct events, and they can be as simple or elaborate as you like giving them your flare. Choose a moment during the year where you’ll hold the competition, give each employee an amount of time to get creative and have them come up with their own ideas, then pick one that you think is the best. Depending on the nature of your competition, you can use any of the following reward ideas to offer them a chance to win an award.

Bonus

If you find yourself in a position where you don’t have enough money left in the budget to reward everyone, but you still want to let your employees know that they are appreciated, then consider giving them a bonus.

You may be used to giving bonuses at Christmas or on special occasions, but think of this like every day. It’s okay to disclose that you appreciated their hard work and want to say thank you for that. As long as it is something nice, like a gift certificate for lunch or a dollar off their next paycheck, then look into doing this for your employees. But if you do, then this is an opportunity you have to take advantage of.

Prize

This is where we’ve saved the best for last. Everyone loves prizes and employee of the month awards as they are a lot more fun than bonuses. They can vary in a lot of different ways, but they are great ways to recognize your employee’s hard work, not just during special occasions but whenever it so happens. And at the same time, it lets the employee know that you appreciate their hard work and are proud of what they’ve achieved or plan on achieving that day.

 Personalized gifts

Headbands, mugs, and key chains with a message of appreciation on them are all different ways to reward your employees. You can also consider things like making something fun out of their name or even the fact that they might be a great worker. It could be as simple as a “Good Work” badge or something life-sized that they can put on their office or cubicle wall, so everyone knows.

Tickets

Although you might think that giving a prize is the best way to recognize your employees, it can also be accompanied by giving them tickets to things they would like to go to. There are loads of options with this subject, and you can choose which one’s best for you. For example, maybe there’s an event or competition your company is involved with that the employees will want tickets for. Then you can make it so that the employees get a gift card or admission for their participation in the event.

Another idea is to give your employees tickets to a game or an event at a time where they will be happy to take time off from work. You can also give them tickets for fun attractions like water parks or other places like this.

Vacation time

Another way to recognize your employees is also an old favorite. In this case, you can give them vacation time. Although you might be thinking that you can’t do something like that during the workweek, there are ways around it. One of them is finding a way to give them their own dedicated line or shift at work so that they don’t have to worry about getting their work done and can take time off that they need instead.

Another way to do this is to take time off for them and then pay them their normal salary so that they won’t lose their job. Although this might seem a little unfair on your part, it is better in the long run because you won’t have to worry, and they will be able to get the time that they need. And don’t worry, you can always find someone to cover your work while they are gone.