Best “Out-of-the-Box” Ways to Reward & Recognize Employees within a Startup How today’s top Employer Brands develop their startup culture by taking care of their people Culture and rituals will create themselves, whether you like them or not, if they are not developed and continuously held from the top down. For many emerging, growing, and even established organizations, focusing on the internal cultural components like activities or mechanisms to reward employees is last on the priority list or often an afterthought. We believe however, that employee recognition is essential for curating company and brand culture, productivity, establishing loyalty and reinforcing behaviours that serve the overall mission. Employees do look for satisfactory compensation and benefits from their employer, yes. But employees also want to contribute substantially to their organization and to be valued and appreciated for their efforts. Organizations that offer rewards and recognition to their employees for major milestones, or exemplary personal performance are more likely to attract and retain quality candidates, boost morale and truly engage employees. Rewards and recognition also consistently contribute to overall employee satisfaction and wellbeing. Rewarding and recognizing employees includes but is not limited to a simple acknowledgment of an employee’s performance, genuine compliments, and monetary rewards. For the startup though, it simply may not be feasible to spend excessively on perks or incentives for employees. With this in mind, we’ve gathered a comprehensive list of 25 out of the box (and budget friendly) ways to reward and recognize employees. These activities will not bring a bit of levity to the office, but will also work to create an outstanding company culture and build positive and cooperative relationships amongst your team.
Ideas to Consider and Adopt: ❏
Mini Brunches - Perhaps your celebrating one member or the entire office, offer an arrangement of breakfast goods to get the body and mind going first thing in the morning. Hey, everyone needs to eat.
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SNAPS Cup - (Pass around a cup and write a moment of celebration, recognition or praise for that person.) Each member of the team writes something encouraging or recognition of a milestone on paper, they then drop that into the SNAPS cup, and then go around reading all of the nice sentiments and shoutouts from the cohort.
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Obnoxiously Large Golden Star - Remember when getting a gold star next your name in school or on assignment meant a job well done. Now take that to the extreme with an obnoxiously large gold star to show your team they’re stars in your eyes.
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Singing Telegram - Arrange for a group of acappella musicians to perform “Moving on Up” or “Celebration” for the top performer of the week/month.
EMPLOYER RESOURCES ~ SoCap Agency
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