Five ideas to reward your employees this holiday season
Congrats! You’ve made it to the holiday season, and so you’ve survived another year in business. Now it’s time to think about how you’re going to reward your employees.
After all, your business wouldn’t still be up and running without the hard work of your staff. And there’s no better way to motivate your employees for the new year than by giving them a holiday gift to remember.
There many ways you can reward your employees, whatever your company budget, size, or industry is. Here are five ideas to inspire creativity.
1) An amazing holiday party
A holiday party isn’t really a reward for employees – for most companies, it’s an annual (and very obligated) tradition to hold a holiday party at the end of the year.
However, some employees dread going to a holiday party because there can be an awkward line between professionalism and fun that’s hard to walk.
Rather than doing a standard “dinner, white elephant, and cocktails” holiday party, why not try something a little more exuberant? Here are a few holiday party ideas:
- Plan a dinner/cocktail cruise – A dinner or cocktail cruise makes for a much more exciting environment than an office, restaurant, or country club.
- New Year’s Eve party – Plan a New Year’s party rather than a holiday party. “Holiday party” is associated with all sorts of negative connotations. A New Year’s Eve party is associated with fun, and there’s a greater chance your employees will be in town than if you threw a party that’s closer to Christmas. Schedule your NYE party for earlier in the evening so that your employees can use it for light pregaming before they head off to their other events.
- Have a themed party – Many companies have holiday parties in formal attire or business casual. Why not throw a holiday party where your employees can dress in Christmas onesies or ugly Christmas sweaters? A themed party makes for a fun and stress-free evening, and employees may have an easier time letting loose.
2) Corporate gifts
Corporate gifts are always a nice way to reward your employees for a successful year. Try to give gifts that will genuinely be useful for your employees, like earphones, mugs, tote bags, and sweets (nourishment is very useful).
All employees should receive a gift of some sort. But you could also give more expensive gifts to high-performing employees and executives – you could even buy custom awards.
This is a good way to show that you appreciate those employees that go above and beyond, and it may even serve to motivate the rest of your staff.
3) A company trip
If your company had a killer year and you’ve got some extra money to spend, consider taking your employees on a company trip. There are several benefits to a company trip, including:
- Staff bonding – It’s easier for your staff to network and make connections with one another when they’re in a fun environment and away from the office.
- Stress relief – A company trip is the perfect way to let your employees unwind, and they’ll come back to the office fresh and ready to work.
- Recruitment – It’ll be easier to attract top candidates with the notion of a company trip.
There are many different places you could go on a company trip. If you’re in the United States, you could visit Mexico – you’ll find cheap flights and accommodation, so it’s better on your budget.
But you could also take your staff to another city, or you could book a company cruise (another great option because it’s affordable and easy to plan).
4) Extra time off
Rather than taking your staff on a company getaway, why not give them the time to go on their own getaway? Reward your employees this holiday season with extra paid time off – maybe one or two days. It’s an unexpected gift, but your employees will love it, and it won’t cost you a lot of money up-front.
5) Work from home days
A simple way to reward your employees is to give them a few work-from-home days. Obviously, this gift is only suitable for an office environment.
Work-from-home days are less stressful and they give your employees the opportunity to sleep in, saving gas money on commuting, and get a few household chores done while they work.
If you’re worried about loss of productivity, just study a few of these tips on how to manage a remote team.
With any of these rewards, your employees are bound to feel appreciated and motivated when the new year hits!
Photo by Antenna
