IMPORTANT: All events must adhere to Auburn University Spending Policies and Procedures
Do you need some ideas on how to recognize your employees? If so, then we encourage you to take a look at this list.
No Cost or Low Cost Ideas
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Have a potluck staff meeting to celebrate employee achievements, birthdays, etc., and say "Thank you!"
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Find ways to reward department-specific performance.
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Have a recognition event created by a peer group that decides what they will give and why they will give it.
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Acknowledge goals and achievements.
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Ask someone else to pass on the thank you: “Your name” asked me to tell you thank you for ______. Good job!”
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Place the notice of award and awardee on a message board, online or on a screen in the parking lot.
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Ask employees to find fun ways to recognize staff, such as the “Energizer Bunny,” “Roadrunner,” and “Life Saver.”
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Send a letter of praise to team members.
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Place gold stars on an employee's computer with a thank you note.
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Send online greeting cards.
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Designate a trophy or even a cup with goodies to travel to the person’s workplace as an award.
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Acknowledge employee in your department's newsletter, intranet site or staff meeting.
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Call an employee to thank them. (Don't discuss any other issue).
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Encourage and recognize staff who pursue continuing education.
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Establish a "Behind the Scenes" award specifically for those whose actions are not usually in the limelight.
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Establish a place to display memos, posters, photos and so on, recognizing progress towards goals and thanking individual employees for their help.
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Plan a surprise achievement celebration for an employee or group of employees.
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Pop in at the first meeting of a special project team and express your appreciation for their involvement.
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Post a thank you note on an employee's office door or cubicle.
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When you hear a positive remark about someone, repeat it to that person as soon as possible.
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Write a letter of praise recognizing specific contributions and accomplishments and share it with the employee.
Moderate to High Cost Ideas
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Allow an employee to attend a work related conference.
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Bake/bring a gift (cookies, bread, cake, etc.)
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Create a Hall of Fame wall with photos of employees.
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Design a "Stress Support Kit" that includes music, a funny book that will make an employee laugh, a stress ball, etc. – or design your own.
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Give a deserving employee a mug filled with treats.
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Give a framed certificate of appreciation.
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Give a membership or subscription to a journal that relates to employee work.
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Give flowers to an employee at their office or home as a thank you.
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Have breakfasts with groups of employees.
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Hold informal retreats to foster communication and set goals.
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Make a photo collage about a successful project that shows the people that worked on it, its stage of development and its completion and presentation.
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Make and deliver a fruit basket.
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Schedule random fun events such as watching a movie or having an ice cream break.
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Serve ice cream sundaes to all of your employees.
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Serve popcorn and treats.
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Treat employees to lunch.
Resources used to develop this document
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University of Washington Human Resources
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University of Michigan Human Resources
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Nelson, Bob. 1001 Ways to Reward Employees. New York: Workman Publishing, 1994.
