From The Humor Advantage

A Sample of Offbeat, Fun Ways to Reward Employees

The #1 reason employees say they leave their job is because they felt unappreciated. Which is why inspiring workplaces need to foster a culture that encourages everyone to do the basics, like saying “thank-you,” practicing positive praise, and asking employees for their input.

Appreciating employees is also a golden opportunity to inject some fun into your workplace. Here are just a few ideas to demonstrate that when it comes to recognizing employees, the options are truly endless.

Fun Employee Rewards

• Depending on where your offices are, allow employees one “snow day,” “surf’s up day” or “sun’s out  day” per year where they can sneak out for the afternoon to take advantage of the weather.

• To help employees celebrate their birthdays, create a policy where they are allowed to leave work two hours early on their birthday and/or arrive two hours late the day after (when, in fact, it may be even more appreciated).

• Hold a Limo Lottery, where the winning employee gets dropped off to work and picked up again by a limo.

• Alpine Tubular Management & Supply Inc. hands out a trophy made from a golden upside down toilet plunger holding some fake “poop” once a month to an employee or team that “gives a crap” by going above and beyond the call of duty.

• Zappos has a program to recognize workplace heroes. As part of its Hero Award program, each employee is given a $50 monthly allowance to award a colleague as a bonus. The executive team then picks an overall hero from all the candidates. The winning workplace hero is announced with a mini-parade while a song such as “I Need a Hero” plays on the office sound system. The hero of the month gets a special parking space for a month, a $150 Zappos gift card and, as befitting any true hero, a cape.

• Rogers Insurance in Calgary, Alberta rewards employees through their “Dream Program” which allows all employees to register their dream wishes. Then, each year, four employees (one selected anonymously by a staff vote, one anonymously by management and two by random draws) receive $10,000 toward achieving their dream. The company also adds $100 a year into each employee’s “Dream Account,” from which they can withdraw money at any time to put toward their dreams and gives an additional $1,000 dream stipend to one randomly selected employee.

• Cable & Wireless Optus in Sydney, Australia held a lottery to name floors in their building after employees. The winning employee gets the floor officially named for them, complete with a plaque and photo on the associated wall.

• Hold a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off contest, wherein employees submit their ideas for what they’d do for the day if they could play hooky. The winner (either through a draw or a vote for the most creative  idea) gets the chance to live their dream hooky day.

• A Wells Fargo office in California has a list of 101 awards and prizes, including some rather offbeat ones such as hot air ballooning, getting your house cleaned, music lessons for your child and a complete personal makeover.

• Have a “celebrity for the day” contest where the winner gets the full celeb treatment, complete with limo, paparazzi and glamour photo shots.

• Make a donation to the employee’s charity of choice to honor them on their birthday.

Michael Kerr is a Canadian Hall of Fame Speaker, highly in-demand international keynote speaker, and the creator of the Culture Leadership Online Academy. Michael is also the author of 8 books, including:  The Humor Advantage: Why Some Businesses Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank;  Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire; and The Jerk-Free Workplace: How You Can Take the Lead to Create a Happier, More Inspiring Workplace.  www.MikeKerr.com