Boost Employee Morale With An Employee Incentive Program
If you're struggling with employee morale in your company, don't fret. You can improve the mood of your employees by implementing an employee incentive program.
With a well-thought-out and carefully executed employee incentive program, you can help increase workplace happiness while also improving productivity. Think back to when you were at work and someone unexpectedly brought brownies in for everyone to enjoy during their lunch break, or when your boss took the time to congratulate each and every one of you on a job well done after finishing up a big project. These are just some examples of very simple yet effective ways that managers have helped make their employees feel appreciated and happy at work.
Now that you have a better understanding of how an employee incentive program can improve morale, let's take a closer look.
Employee Incentive Program Benefits And Ideas
Make your employees feel appreciated by implementing some or all of the following ideas in your incentive program:
Employee Appreciation Day – Decide upon a day each month where you'll treat your employees to lunch and bring in food from each of their favorite restaurants. You could even surprise them with gift cards for these restaurants!The key is to make this day fun for everyone involved. You could even host a picnic in the parking lot where all the employees and their families will come together to eat, relax and play fun games together.
Surprise Stocking – Give all of your employees a small gift (usually in the form of a gift card for a certain product) for all their hard work over the course of the year.
Creative Incentive Program Ideas
The following ideas are intended as just that -- ideas -- to get you thinking about your own employee incentive program. Some of them may apply better to your company's needs than others and will likely require some tweaking before they can be implemented…but who knows! An idea is an idea is an idea, right? So once you begin brainstorming and researching these ideas, you'll soon have the perfect employee incentive program at your disposal.
Relationship-Building Employee Incentive Program Ideas
Baby Shower – Prepare a gift bag to be given to all of your employees' new babies. Include items meant for babies that are a little more grown up (i.e., pacifiers, binkies, bottles), and items that are meant for baby's first "big boy" or girl (i.e., stuffed animals and books). Make sure to include clothing and toys as well!
Adoption Day – Set aside a day each month where individuals in the company can bring their adopted children to work for the day. This is a great way to bring people together and to show how much you care about the individual you've adopted. This could also be combined with other in-office events for the day (i.e., fun games, raffles, etc.).
Surprise Party – Prepare and hold a surprise party for all of your employees' children (or pets!) at work. Make sure to buy special treats that are suitable for kids or animals! Pack up little gift bags, soft toys and stuffed animals as part of the party so people can take them home with them.
You could also include some employee incentive program ideas for adults in lieu of children. You could take into account birthdays and anniversaries, special promotions, etc.
Outdoor Employee Incentive Program Ideas
Field Trip – Why not plan a fun field trip for the entire company to go on together? You might think this is a bit "out there," but if you've ever worked in an office environment that was outdoorsy or got off on spending their workday outside, this will likely be a hit among your employees! At the very least, they'll all get to enjoy some fresh air while they're at work. It's also an opportunity to clean up the office and get everyone out of doors.With a bit of research, you could come up with a great field trip idea. Pack up the bus and head to the zoo, hold an outside meeting at the park (equipment will be required), play a game of soccer outside in your parking lot or just have everyone walk around the block together.
Volunteer Day – Hold regular volunteer days where your employees can come together and help out at local nursing homes, shelters or other places around your community that need help. You could also hold a breakfast for volunteers where the employees can bring their children to spend the morning with the parents at the nursing homes.
Office Charity – Set aside a day each month where you and your employees can volunteer at a local charity or hospital. You could set up some tables at school or church and make it a learning experience for kids who might be interested in helping out on that day. You could also organize activities such as bingo, raffles, refreshments or prizes based on how much money you raise during that event.
Employee Incentive Program Ideas For Productivity
New Year's Resolution – Start your year off right by rewarding your employees with a day of fun at work! Have them all write down their New Year's resolutions on a slip of paper and do a little drawing for prizes each month. Make sure to hold onto the slips of paper so you can read them aloud at the end of the year to celebrate all that your employees have accomplished over the course of 12 months!
Treasure Hunt – Try organizing a treasure hunt around your office. Divide up all the employees into teams, give them a list of clues to find and map out all the locations where treasure is hidden. The teams that have found all the treasures are rewarded with fun prizes, such as gift cards for a local restaurant.
Employee Incentive Program Ideas For Company Success
Pot Luck – Set aside one day each month where your employees can bring in food to share with everyone else. This is a great opportunity to get to know your co-workers and learn more about their life outside of work.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a lot of fun employee incentive program ideas out there. There's nothing better than to know that the people you work with are having a great time at work!
So next time you're searching for ways to reward your employees for their hard work, come up with some of these ideas and see what works for your company. Who knows -- one of them might become a hit and start being copied throughout the country!
Related Resources:
Learn more about creating engaging and stimulating incentive programs , including tips on making your programs easy to administer and track, by checking out our ebook, The Ultimate Guide To Creating Engaging Incentive Programs .