Meaningful Gift Ideas and Incentive Awards for Your Employees

Incentive awards are given by all varieties of companies and organizations, small and large, in every industry. They effectively tap into the human instinct to achieve success and growth, and when an incentive is on the table, employers often benefit from better quality work, stronger team culture, and increased productivity. While it is typical to provide incentive awards around the holidays, we encourage you to look for opportunities to reward and recognize stellar employees and longevity throughout the year. Incentive strategies can build confidence with both your staff and your board members for bringing more meaning to a job well done.

What are employee incentive awards?

Incentive awards come in all shapes and sizes. They can be a bonus. Vouchers or gift cards are popular ideas. Plaques and trophies are further ways of expressing recognition. A carefully selected gift requires thoughtful attention to what you want to communicate to your employee; more important than the type of incentive award is the narrative around it.

Why are incentive awards important for employees?

When you think about recognition in the workplace, do pictures of staff on an “Employee of the Month” wall come to mind? Well, a public acknowledgment of success is a key facet of award-giving. Turning the limelight on excellent employees for their colleagues or the public to witness helps leadership highlight exemplary performance. The practice of putting good work on a pedestal shows others that rewards exist and are worth striving for. It also helps those newer to the organization identify the role models in their workplace. In addition to public recognition, awards are typically partnered with a meaningful incentive gift for employees. Employers might want to use an incentive award to: 

• Challenge employees’ creativity.
• Promote company values. 
• Reward milestones, such as a tenth work anniversary. 
• Generate excitement around a revenue, membership, or fundraising goal. 
• Give back to the community through service or donations.

How do I establish an award program?

In an insightful article by Harvard Business Review author and psychology professor David DeSteno, we learn that pride is an essential ingredient in the act of persistence. Pride motivates employees to work harder and longer on tasks because they believe in their skillset and abilities to meet goals. Therefore, positive feedback at several stages of any complex or arduous project are important. This type of attention is proven to lead to better results. Particularly, specific praise is most helpful.

So, how do you build a successful award program? Offer a compelling reason to participate. Employers might motivate workers by announcing a contest, a nomination program, or a department or company-wide initiative. You’ll have even better participation rates with the promise of great gifts for the winners! Building a culture of reward doesn’t happen overnight. Companies and organizations that are just beginning to develop employee incentive awards might experience employee participation growth over time, along with improved employee satisfaction and retention.

What are meaningful gift ideas for companies?

Choosing appropriate company gift ideas for your incentive award program is the first step to creating meaning with your intentions. Will you need a gift for ten participants? Two hundred? One thousand? At what cadence do you intend on giving this award: only once ever, annually, or when revenue goals are met? How legendary is the achievement? Keep these questions in mind along with your budget as you browse Lux Bond & Green’s corporate gifts and consider our engraving, monogramming, and other personalization services. Lux Bond & Green can emblazon almost any object with a company motto, each employee’s initials, an inspiring quote, or the name of an award. Décor for the office such as paperweights and glassware are great ideas for awarding the entire company. Even more thoughtful gift ideas for highly competitive and big achievements include:

• A hand-blown, USA-made Simon Pearce glass vase.
• Gorgeous cherry and black walnut hardwood bowls and servers from Andrew Pearce.
• An elegant pewter box or tray by Match Pewter.
• Mont Blanc writing instruments that make an impact.
• Eco-conscious aluminum frames by Mariposa for displaying special memories.
• A timeless Rolex watch.
• A stunning David Yurman bracelet.

No matter what you choose to give, remember that the benefits of incentive gifts are twofold. Incentive awards recognize achievements while also encouraging future good work! If they are not yet part of your HR strategy, now is a great time to consider incorporating them. The organization, Great Places To Work, specializes in helping companies become, well, great places to work. In the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 2021, employees surveyed referenced recognition from leadership, benefits programs, and flexibility as distinguishing factors at their places of employment. Most of all, they mentioned caring, considerate, and communicative people as being key difference makers—both fellow employees and those who run the company. A face-to-face encounter is a part of gift-giving in the workplace, which makes employees feel seen, heard and appreciated. Visit Lux Bond & Green online today, stop into your local store, or give us a call to discover awards that will make your company or organization an excellent place to be.