Fun Employee Awards Ideas
We all love a good reward or some recognition for the things we do, right? Your team are no different, with 51% of employees stating that recognition from managers significantly boosts their motivation and morale.
But employee rewards should be more than just a fleeting ‘well done’ or pat on the back, they should be memorable, meaningful and maybe just a little bit out-of-the-box! Don’t get us wrong, traditional awards for things like long service and work milestones are absolutely important, but there’s also a lot to be said for embracing other, creative ways to celebrate your team to keep things fun, interesting and boosting.
We’re here to help you do that with plenty of ideas for fun recognition awards that’ll highlight your people and their brilliant personalities, while also cultivating a vibrant culture of appreciation. Let’s explore them, shall we!
What are employee awards?
Staff awards are a way to recognise and celebrate the brilliant achievements and efforts of your people. They can range from super prestigious to downright preposterous, offering plenty of opportunities to showcase your company values, culture and the wonderful characters in that make up your business. Whether you opt for the classic ‘Employee of the Year’ or more ‘out there’ choices like ‘Office Joker’ and ‘Best Plant Parent’, fun employee awards are sure to put a smile on people’s faces. Most importantly though, when done right, employee awards have the power to boost morale, increase job satisfaction, enhance colleague connections and play a tangible role in strengthening employee engagement in your business.
Why give out employee awards?
Well for starters, why wouldn’t you want your employees to feel good about themselves? Awards are a powerful way to show your people that their contribution to your business is seen and appreciated. In turn, this will give them a greater sense of job satisfaction which is a key driver of productivity, loyalty and engagement. So not only do awards benefit the people receiving them, but they benefit your business too. Here are some of the ways employee awards have a positive impact:
- Recognises hard work: employee recognition encourages people to go above and beyond by letting them know that they’re appreciated and their input is valued.
- Boosts morale and motivation: fun awards drum up excitement and morale by keeping recognition relevant and part of everyday work.
- Increases employee engagement: people are more likely to engage with their company when they resonate with the culture and feel it’s inclusive.
- Creates a positive workplace culture: regular recognition inspires people and lifts them up, simultaneously helping to drive a healthy workplace atmosphere where individuals can truly thrive.
And if you’re still not convinced, there’s also the fact that employee awards are easy to deliver and can be tailored to suit your business. You can choose to deliver them as regularly as you like, and they don’t have to break the bank to be effective. Yes, really!
30 Fun Employee Award Ideas
Pens at the ready! Here are our top creative employee award categories to inspire you to bring the boosts to your business. Explore our favourites and get ready to inject more energy into your own recognition programme to boost your people and business!
1. Above and Beyond Award
This award is for the employee that consistently over-delivers and impresses. They set themselves high standards, take huge pride in their work are known for going the extra mile in everything they do. A worthy award winner indeed!
2. Coffee Obsessed Award
This person simply can’t function without their daily espresso, americano or other caffeinated drink of choice. You’ll often find them at the office coffee machine or with a mug in hand, ready to tackle the day!
3. OG Award
AKA the ‘original’ team member – the one that’s been around as long as the furniture and harks back to ‘the good old days’. This person should be commended for their loyalty, for a start, but also celebrated for the knowledge, experience and stories they bring to their colleagues!
4. Mission: Possible Award
This award goes to the employee who always takes on the toughest tasks and manages to get them done, no matter how impossible it might seem. Their go-getter, can-do (Tom Cruise) attitude is something to be applauded!
5. Organisation Oracle Award
For the person who is brilliantly efficient at managing multiple tasks, keeping things on track and always seems to be one step ahead. Shine a spotlight on their organisational prowess so they feel seen, heard and celebrated!
6. Jet-Setter Award
There’s always one person that seems to be going on lavish holidays and/or visiting exotic locations during their annual leave, right? This is the award for them! Celebrate their penchant for travel with a fun award. Ideally when they’re not on annual leave.
7. Always Cold Award
This person is always bundled up in as many layers as possible and just can’t seem to get themselves warm. The award you give them should help them battle the cold – gloves, a scarf or maybe even a hot water bottle!
8. Best Dressed Award
Shine a spotlight on the person that oozes style and makes a statement with their work outfits. This is a chance to recognise and bring out people’s individuality, but it also invites some healthy competition between team members as they vie for an award.
9. Always Early Award
You know the person that always joins meetings five minutes early? Or is always at work before everyone else? Recognise their promptness with an award! This is a fun, light-hearted way to showcase that their excellent time keeping doesn’t go unnoticed.
10. Weather Watcher Award
Us Brits love to talk about the weather, don’t we? Well, this award is for that one individual that’s always keeping an eye out on the ever-changing conditions outside. Your business’ very own weather reporter, this person can always be relied upon for an alert when the next heatwave or storm is round the corner.
11. Tech Whizz Award
This the award for the person that saves the day when it comes to any kind of tech issue. They’re in-the-know about all the latest gadgets and programmes and an endless source of tech info! This award is a great way to showcase the hidden heroes that keep things running smoothly, even if they’re not officially part of the IT team.
12. Super Snacker Award
We all know that one person who has a snack with them at all times, right? This award celebrates their endless hunger and need to nibble throughout the day. An edible award will go down a treat for this!
13. Values Champion Award
The person that lives, breathes and just generally embodies your business’ values deserves this award. They’re a true champion of what your business represents and proud to showcase your values in their day-to-day life.
14. Know-It-All Award
Shine a well-deserved spotlight on the individual that has a seemingly endless amount of knowledge stored in their brain. They truly know your business inside and out and are the go-to person for answers to any question.
15. Helping Hand Award
This person is generous with their time and always offers their support and guidance to any colleague they encounter. As the name suggests, they’re nurturing, kind and will bend over backwards to make sure colleagues have the support they need.
16. Double-Checker Award
They’re making a list and checking it twice! This person has a keen eye for detail and likes to check, check and maybe even check their work again to make sure everything is correct and in order. You have to applaud it!
17. Creative Powerhouse Award
The perfect award for that one person that can always be relied on as a source of creative ideas. They are quite literally brimming with new, exciting and potentially whacky suggestions and they aren’t afraid to throw them in the mix.
18. Meeting Maestro Award
This is an award for the individual that is known to run valuable, engaging and efficient meetings. Agenda? Always. On time? Absolutely. Always in a meeting? You bet. If you want a meeting to be run, this is your go-to person!
19. GIF Guru Award
Sometimes the best way to get a message across is through the art of GIFs… This award is to recognise the individual that leans on GIFs for most of their internal communications. Maybe, to celebrate, you could create a GIF especially for them?
20. Social Butterfly Award
This award is for the person who loves to connect with colleagues, partners, customers – anyone they seem to encounter at work! They’re a friendly, fun-loving soul: the first to welcome new starters and always on board for the team social events.
21. Brand Police Award
There’s always that individual or group of individuals that can spy a brand inconsistency, sniff the misuse of a font, or spot the wrong brand colour being used a mile off. This attention to detail and brand protection simply has to be commended, right?
22. Office Joker Award
We all know a person that loves to crack a joke and get their peers laughing at work. So why not give your very own comedian colleague an award? Their humour helps boost morale and keep colleagues smiling – the unsung hero of lifting the workplace vibe!
23. Master Baker Award
The colleague that regularly brings in their baked goods absolutely deserves a shout out. Those sweet or savoury treats add a taste of joy to the workplace, giving employees a great excuse for a quick snack break. Bakers – we salute you!
24. Team Player Award
Can you think of a colleague that loves to collaborate? Is a true team player? This is the award for them! Celebrate the individual that thrives when working alongside others and relishes shared success.
25. Most Likely To…Award
This is a great award that you can truly tailor to match the uniqueness of your business and people. Here are some fun ideas to get you going:
- Most Likely to be on Reality TV
- Most Likely to be Prime Minister
- Most Likely to be in a Meeting
- Most Likely to Stay Calm in a Crisis
- Most Likely to Show Up with a Smile
26. Corporate Lingo Bingo Award
The classic corporate lingo or business buzzwords always manage to sneak into our daily vocab at work, whether we like it or not. So, why not ‘circle back’ and award the person that would be the winner of Corporate Lingo Bingo – the one that squeezes the most corporate phrases into their conversations at work. This is one we reckon you ‘take offline’ and ‘touch base’ with other employees about…
27. Keep Calm and Carry on Award
That person who’s always able to keep calm and collected in any situation? This is the award for them! Celebrate the individuals that help maintain a zen atmosphere even in times of chaos by giving them this award after a busy quarter or period in the year.
28. Ten Thousand Tabs Award
Celebrate the individual that manages to keep their laptop running, despite having multiple tabs and programmes running simultaneously. Their organised chaos and multi-tasking simply has to be applauded!
29. Motivation on Tap Award
An award that reflects the person! Celebrate the individual that never fails to turn up to work amped up and ready to go. They’re a glass half full kind of person and great at keeping morale high, even during tough times.
30. The Inspiration Award
This is a wonderful way to highlight someone that inspires their colleagues. Whether it’s through their attitude towards work, a challenge they’ve faced in their personal life or just the way they interact with others.
Fun employee awards: Bring ideas to life with Boostworks
Recognising employees doesn’t only have to be tied to business performance to make an impact. Fun awards, like the ones we’ve highlighted in this blog, offer a new perspective to employee rewards that make the whole experience light-hearted, inclusive and engaging – something your employees can truly get on board with.
Choosing fun employee awards that match the unique character of your workforce and are, importantly, chosen by your employees will help boost morale, colleague connections and culture.
Here at Boostworks, we’re people experts and we’ve built tailored employee reward and recognition programmes for UK businesses for decades. We incorporate your business’ unique qualities, strategic goals and culture into your programme, delivering peer-to-peer recognition, personalised rewards, milestone awards, nomination-based programmes and more. Essentially, we configure our tech to suit your business’ unique needs, to ensure that every employee has endless opportunities to feel boosted.
Interested in finding out more? Book a demo. No commitment, just conversation!
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