Tag: award coins for employees

7 Effective Employee Recognition Ideas

Make your staff feel appreciated by offering tokens of appreciation for their hard work. Get your inspiration for employee recognition ideas from this list!

Did you know that only 51% of employees are satisfied with the recognition they receive after doing a great job?

Not only that, but only 1 in three employees have received recognition in the last week.

Now, we don’t expect you to offer the following employee recognition ideas on a weekly basis, but it does need to be consistent. As a result, your company will benefit, too!

How?

Recognition helps increase productivity in your workforce. Your employees become happier to work (less time for complaining!), their loyalty grows stronger, and employee retention increases. This saves you time and money.

As you can see, employee recognition is a tremendous all-around practice. We’re here to offer some creative ideas for the next time you need to award someone for a job well done.

Keep reading!

1. Positive Feedback

We’ll start with the most straightforward recognition of all — positive feedback.

Sometimes, even a little acknowledgment can go a long way. Too often, employees perform well and get nothing but silence in return. If you offer regular, specific feedback, they’ll know to continue doing good work.

Take the uncertainty out of the equation. Tell your employees what an excellent presentation they did, how happy you are with their sales, or whatever applies to your business.

2. Company Swag

There’s nothing like some swag to get people excited (and hey — it’s an advertisement for you, too!).

If you’ve got custom mugs, t-shirts, stress balls, pens, etc., consider pulling it all together into a company tote bag. Gift it to the employee you’d like to recognize.

This small gesture allows them to feel proud of their place of employment.

3. An In-House Meal

A Harvard Business Review study found that 26% of employees value healthy food options in the workplace.

While you may not be able to supply these healthy food items on a daily basis, you could consider hosting quarterly or bi-annual catered parties. Provide a variety of healthy, yummy options.

It’s easy to just order a bunch of pizza and call it a day.

Instead, seek out a local caterer and have them bring a smorgasbord of great grub. Not only will your employees love eating in (and not having to pay for their meal), but it’ll give them some time to de-stress and comingle with their coworkers.

Additionally, healthy food should spark some energy. High-carb pizza results in that sleepy after-effect that’s not too good for going back to work!

4. Employee Outings

Say you’d like to recognize your whole team rather than a specific employee.

Employee outings are great for recognizing an entire group of people at once. And if someone on the team is slacking a bit, a group outing should encourage them to pick up the pace.

Some ideas for your next outing could be:

  • A pool hall or bowling alley
  • A scenic, easy hike
  • Volunteering for a local charity
  • A painting class
  • A cooking class
  • A sporting event at your local arena

Try to find something that offers group discounts to lessen the cost of the bill.

Additionally, try to avoid divisive activities. For example, taking your employees on a bar crawl could make those who don’t drink feel uncomfortable or left out.

5. Custom Challenge Coins

Custom challenge coins are an excellent souvenir for a job well done.

In fact, non-monetary incentives like these are just as effective as cash bonuses. They complete the same objective — motivate employees, develop camaraderie in the workforce, and bring teams together.

Challenge coins have a long and storied history that dates back to WWI. And they’re still used today at corporate events and often show up in the workplace.

Not only does collecting coins give your employees something to look forward to achieving, but they’re a great way to highlight individual successes. You can create a custom medal for any type of achievement. If there’s more than one style of coin, that’s one more thing for your employees to strive for.

At the end of the year, employees can compare coins, see who got what, and see who collected the most. This’ll give them something to look forward to going into the next year — collecting even more coins!

6. Social Media Shout-Outs

If your employee is okay with having a photo posted online, this is a great way to recognize their achievements.

Take a picture of the employee you want to shout-out and post it to your business’s social media page. Write a short little bio about them and explain why they’re getting recognized.

Then, they can re-share the post on their account and let their family and friends see what a great job they’re doing at work!

Bonus — this increases awareness about your company and shows what a great team you’ve cultivated.

7. A Wall of Fame

Similar to the idea above, a wall of fame praises employees’ achievements in a fun and fresh way.

Say your company incentives employee or company reviews. You can start a Wall of Fame and print out any reviews that mention your employees. Highlight their names and pin the paper to a corkboard in your office.

This works in two ways.

One, it recognizes those who’ve gone above and beyond. Second, it encourages anyone not yet on the board to strive for getting their name featured!

Try One of These Fantastic Employee Recognition Ideas

You’ll be surprised at how effective they can be!

Not only will you feel content with offering praise and acknowledgment, but your employees will feel even more over-joyed at their achievements. This directly results in a better work ethic (which is good news for your company).

Why not put one of these employee recognition ideas to the test right now?

Contact us today to see your options for a custom, creative, high-quality challenge coin. We’ll even help you come up with a free design that’s perfect for your company!

Boost Corporate Workplace Morale With Custom Challenge Coins

Boost the workplace with custom challenge coins. Read to learn how custom challenge coins can benefit your companies workplace and employees.

Thanks to recent lower underemployment and employment and a slight increase in turnover and worker satisfaction with benefits, we’re seeing one of the most engaged times in the US workforce:

A whopping 34% of American workers are “engaged” – enthusiastic, committed to work, and involved.

Workplace engagement hasn’t been this high since back in 2000 when Gallup first began recording these stats.

This is exciting news; there’s still room to grow. Read on to learn how custom challenge coins can reinforce company identity, praise, and honor high-achieving individuals, and commemorate service and training.

What Exactly Are Custom Challenge Coins?

Challenge coins are high-detailed coins that serve as a token of accomplishment. They can have a more general design or a customized design based on the area of work.

Some industries that use custom challenge coins are the corporate workforce, police, fire department, and the military – AKA, army, navy, air force, marines, and coast guard.

But other businesses and industries can still take advantage of these coins as a source of encouragement, motivation, and gratitude.

How Can You Use the Coins?

First of all, know you can use the coins however you deem fit. As general guidelines, you can use them in the police force to honor a specific division like SWAT or detectives.

The same goes for the military that wants to honor a specific branch or troop.

These coins can also congratulate well-deserved promotions and service on the job. Not to mention, retirement for soon-to-be veterans, and a symbol of welcome for new entrants.

For military, police, and firefighters, they can be a symbol of purpose and dedication to their communities and nation.

One of the Biggest Ways Challenge Coins Can Boost Morale in the Workplace

As Harvard Business Review states when it comes to motivation, rewards work better than punishment.

This is where custom challenge coins can come in. Corporate, fire departments, police forces, and military can use these coins as that reward or encouragement for motivational action.

For example, let’s say you need your employees to work overtime this week on an upcoming project for a big client. Of course, you’re going to pay them overtime. But what about that extra step that shows your employees you care?

How do you motivate them to work that extra hour or three the next time an important project comes around? Honoring that time spent in the office with challenge coins will not only employees feel proud but boost company morale.

It’s One More Benefit

The reason for more engaged workers in the US may have to do with a slightly higher increase in workers’ satisfaction with tangible workplace benefits. Some tangible benefits Gallup mentions include:

  • recognition at work for accomplishments
  • retirement benefits
  • and health insurance

Custom coins can be one more tool in companies’ and departments’ recognition-benefit arsenal, which can help make employees and servicemen and servicewomen feel more engaged in their jobs.

What About Rewarding Training Courses and Certificates?

According to Entrepreneur, the online learning industry is booming. This means companies can offer employees more training that’s easily accessible.

Training courses mandatory or not, challenge coins can give employees the recognition they need.

How About Firefighters, Police Officers, and Military Servicemen and Servicewomen?

Firefighters, for example, have more job responsibilities than fighting fires. Some other ways firefighters help the community include:

  • aiding people during non-fire disasters
  • providing medical aid
  • and assisting with traffic accidents.

Several professional fire departments in California offer on-going training through their state’s apprenticeship program.

Why not award firefighters who attend such programs with a challenge coin? What about giving them a coin for completing their a skills certificate (i.e., EMT)?

The same goes for police offers, who must undergo continual training. And what about challenge coins for new recruits who finish training courses in boot camp?

Speaking of the military… Challenge coins can also honor the 18% of military that are officers. These men and women manage operations and enlisted servicemen. Not to mention, the 82% of enlisted men and women who complete these missions and keep our nation safe.

Getting the Community Involved

Challenge coins can also be a bridge between law enforcement and the community. For instance, police officers can hand out coins to the public at community events to help foster community relationships.

They can also give these coins to schools when police officers come to talk to classes about their jobs. That coin could inspire children who dream of becoming an officer.

Consider a Different Course When Trying to Deter an Action

As mentioned, they’re great for rewarding and encouraging motivational actions. But, as HBR states (same article), if you’re trying to deter certain actions (i.e., breaking company policy,etc.) rewards may not be the way to go.

In such cases, you may want to hold off on the challenge coins. How about setting a limit on something instead?

The Takeaway

Custom challenge coins offer a way for fire and police departments, corporations, and the military to honor employees.

They’re an appreciation tool for leaders who want to impact and inspire others. According to Medium, leaders can use the five love languages at the office. Challenge coins can be a part of the gift giving language.

Or be combined with a high-five or praise, checking off more love language boxes.

Ultimately, these coins are a great go-to for motivating employees and boosting company morale. Remember, you know your company/department best and will know when the best time is to use or not use the coins.

Have you used custom coins in your company or department? What did you use them for, and what was the result?

Did the employees feel more recognized for their work? What other benefits do custom coins have in the workplace?

We want to know. Comment or question? Write it in the comments section below. We’ll get back to you!