Employee incentives are tools that you can use to motivate and reward your employees. They can help with recruitment and talent retention, encourage greater productivity, boost morale and build a healthy company culture.
Incentives can include a wide range of rewards or events. It is important to design your employee incentive programme to work for your business and the employees. To do that, you will need to identify what you are trying to achieve through the incentive programme. You will also need to decide what are the performance metrics and/or employee behaviours needed to achieve your company goals. Listen to your team’s preferences and pay attention to which incentives work the best for your business culture and goals.
If you’re looking for a better way to reward employees, we’ve pulled together some of our favourite employee incentive ideas to provide some inspiration. We’ve broken our employee incentive ideas into 6 categories; experiences and event incentives, travel incentives, wellness incentives, professional development, gifts and budget friendly incentives.
Experiences & event incentives
Event incentives are not only a great way to reward but also bring your employees closer together over shared experiences.
Team days out
Show your employees that you care about them on a more personal level by organising fun days out. When it comes to organising a corporate day out, there’s a lot of choice from free to budget-friendly and extravagant options. Some suggestions include;
- Company picnics or BBQs
- Outdoor activities like hikes, camping or beach days
- Creative activities like painting or pottery classes
- Extravagant experiences such as race car driving lessons, michelin star dining or river cruises
End of year ceremony award
This employee incentive idea offers a great opportunity to look back at your business achievements in the past year and celebrate the people who contributed to those achievements. Hire a unique venue, provide great entertainment, and make sure you deliver exciting rewards for those going above and beyond.
Travel incentives
Travel incentive programmes offer all-expenses paid trips in exchange for extraordinary performance. Whether it’s the UK or overseas, the possibilities of destinations and trip experiences are endless. Some ideas include;
- A stay in the British countryside complete with castle tours
- A food tour through Italy or France
- Tropical beach escape
- Ski adventure in the Alps
Wellness incentives
Incorporating wellness incentives into your incentive programme is a great way to help your staff adopt and maintain healthy habits, ultimately improving their health and wellbeing. And don’t forget, a happier, fitter workforce is an engaged one, better able to meet the demands of the business.
Fitness classes at the office
If you have the space, you can run fitness classes at your office. Bring in a fitness instructor to help you design a programme with a variety of classes to meet various fitness styles and preferences.
Wellness sessions
After a stressful day, who couldn’t use a few minutes to unwind? Offer your employees classes to help them de-stress and learn techniques for practising meditation, mindfulness, yoga or similar activities on their own. Bring in an expert to teach the class.
Wellness retreats
Wellness retreats are a fantastic opportunity for your team to focus on their health with an intensive time of relaxation, education and rejuvenation. With many different types of retreats available, you will be able to choose one that suits the needs of your business and employees. Some ideas include;
- Yoga and meditation retreats
- Fitness retreats
- Spa retreats
- Nature retreats
Professional development
Helping your employees develop their skills will help them grow, do their job even better and ensure long-term success.
Guest speaker sessions
One of our favourite employee incentive ideas are seminars with inspirational guest speakers. Invite high profile industry experts to share their knowledge, educate and inspire your employees. Be sure to choose a topic that your team will find of interest.
Upskilling training opportunities
Free training and classes are an excellent option for individuals who want to increase their skill set or develop new skills. There are training and classes available for every subject under the sun, from brushing up on the spreadsheet skills to learning about project management.
Interest Classes
Running workshops and classes that align with your employees’ interests is a fantastic way to show your appreciation. You can ask your team about their interests and reward them with paid classes once a set goal is achieved. Some ideas include;
- Poetry writing lessons
- Cooking classes
- Language courses
Conferences
Conferences are excellent opportunities to learn about the current trends in your industry and network with fellow colleagues. You can book tickets for your team to attend industry conferences of interest or run an internal conference for the whole company.
Gifts
Gifts are great incentives, especially for specific occasions like work anniversaries or birthdays.
Branded swag
Most people love free stuff but don’t just give out anything. Think about what your employees may find useful in the work and personal life. Get to know your team and find out what they like most. Some ideas include;
- Tech accessories like headphones and car phone chargers
- High-quality coffee and accessories
- Workplace essentials like computer backpacks, pens and notebooks
- Wellness and fitness gear like water bottles and yoga mats
You can personalise the swag with the company logo and branding allowing your employees to represent the company.
Wellness care packages
Wellness care packages are a great way to support health and wellbeing in the workplace. You can send them for a specific occasion, like maternity or sick leave, or spontaneously to help your staff avoid burnout. Consider including self-care items that promote rest and relaxation, such as aromatherapy candles, herbal tea, healthy snacks and writing journals.
Budget friendly incentives
Lack of budget, doesn’t mean you can’t incentivise your employees for their effort. There are plenty of free or inexpensive options that will work a treat.
Team potluck
Potluck style meals are a great way to keep costs low while giving employees a fun work event to look forward to. Your team will enjoy preparing dishes for each other, trying new foods, swapping recipes and getting to know each other in a more informal environment.
Book club evenings
Another cost-effective employee incentive idea is setting up a company book club. Reading is a popular pastime but frequently we struggle to find the time for it. Organising a company book club provides employees with the motivation to start reading more frequently. It also allows them to socialise in a relaxed environment where they can talk about something that isn’t necessarily work-related.
Dog pitstop by the office
Being around dogs, or any animals for that matter, is not only fun, it is proven to relieve stress! Work with a local shelter to bring dogs to the office for the staff to interact with. Aside from playing with adorable dogs, your employees get to take a break, spend time together and make some great memories.
There are a plethora of employee incentive options. The key to success is to figure out which incentives are likely to work best for your company and your employees.
We hope these ideas provided some inspiration. If you need assistance designing your employee incentive programme, we can help! Get in touch.
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