Non-Monetary Employee Rewards
 

looking for some advice from my fellow TFP'ers...

what non-monetary rewards, senority perks, benefits, etc does your job offer you?

what (realisticly speaking) rewards, perks, benefits, etc would you like offered at your job?

i need examples of various preferably non-monetary rewards for my employees. i have one employee (a receptionist) soon approaching her 15 years anniversary. i also have a strong staff and want to reward them but i have almost no budget to use and want to something more than offer certificates of appreciation or food.

if the idea or recommendation is good enough, i might be able to obtain some extra money to support it....

Thanks!

-Mav

In our capitalist world all the rewards are monetary, aren't they?
Love your people & use them gently. You'll be able to reward them eventually.

..

At our office, one of my coworkers was honored at her 25th anniversary with a diamond bracelet - but I think that may be a little off what you are thinking.

The appreciaton of those arond you can go so far - maybe have something to present to her from the rest of the office where everyone has really taken time to think about how she has contributed to the office and made a difference? Maybe also clients she has interacted with and formed a strong relationship with.

Maybe put together in a memory type book - something she can take with her. Those moments of a party will fly by .. but something that will remind her of the good times will last forever.

At my job they give shit away all the time for people who offer to work a bunch of overtime, or people with exceptional quality, perfect attendance, etc.. sometimes they just have raffles.

They've given away gas cards, Wal-Mart gift cards, movie passes, iPods, DVD players, Xbox 360s, watches, camping gear... all kinds of shit.

I don't know if this helps out, but these are the non-monetary rewards they give out at my job, anyway.

You are much more correct than you may even know. I'm pretty sure that any gift (monetary or nor not) of greater than a $25 value must be reported to the IRS as income. My work makes us sign some lame-ass form to that end whenever we get a bonus or prize. Because of this, we hardly EVER get gifts/bonuses/giftcards that are greater than a $25 value, even if the outstanding work performed is worth more. We also are not allowed to accept gifts from vendors that are greater than $25 value. Lame. Thanks Uncle Sam!

Where I work, it's mostly items from the employee-only gift shop for most things but in the event of really big rewards, it's typically a photo op with the boss.

Is your boss famous? or good looking? This seems really weird to me.

My new job gives strict hour for hour comp time that becomes part of your banked vacation. There is no limit on this time, it can be paid out or used as vacation on request, and it doesn't expire. I've currently got 7 weeks of vacation time saved up and I've only been here for a few months.

It's a lot easier to work long hours when you know someone else is taking it seriously and will give it back to you.

I'm with ubertuber, time off is just as good (if not better) than money. My woman earns a day off for every two weeks she works, so she ends up earning 5 weeks off a year.

I work at the Executive Office.

Is that a strip club?

Seriously: you're not going to tell us the executive office of what, are you?

I once came up with the idea of having the office vote on non-monetary rewards and let them know what we'd be spending. My office wanted a day off.

I suggest allowing everyone to put ideas in a hat. Then you have everyone vote. If it's a tie, then everyone votes again. The idea is to make as much of the office happy with the reward as possible. Next time, the previous reward is off the table and a new idea must be chosen, that way the naysayers will get their chance, too.

If you are looking for things that don't have a direct cost, or aren't expensive, I'd go with the idea of time off.

The most valuable compensation my company would give me that wouldn't directly cost them money is add on to my personal or vacation time.

Try some stuff like a washing service, an ironing service, or a cleaning service...

It's almost as good as giving them time off, cuz you take away a part of their daily drudgery, leaving them with more free time.

Give her three days off with pay. That's a nice gift that is worth more than the money.

I worked for a guy in San Francisco, who would give paid days off whenever someone did something really great at work or had a big anniversary. He was well liked and production was always up!

Time off is still monetary...

Yeah, but you don't have to write a special check for it over and above the usual paycheck. It's monetary in its value to the employee, and it doesn't cost the employer anything fungible. Happy, rested employees work better than ones who have to plod to the office every single day anyway.

I completely agree on all points.

Just pointing out that even the things that seem free really aren't.

No one thought it seemed free, it was just non-monetary. Nothing you can give employees aside from verbal encouragement is free.

I think guccilvr's point (which I didn't sufficiently underscore above) is that for the employee, paid time off IS monetary, while the cost to the business isn't quite in the domain of money. It's cheaper to give than its value to the employee, which makes it a perfect give-away. It's also an acknowledgment that they have lives outside work, and encouragement for them to have GREAT lives outside work.

Haha, sorry - not quite a strip club. The "of what" would be "of the President of the United States" in this case. :)

less floggings?

Time off wins, hands down for the majority of humanity. Everyone with a soul can do with a day or two off.

Uber, compensatory time off is illegal in many states but it is easier for an employer to get away with it for salaried personnel.

Maverick, the most meaningful non-monetary bennie for me (in my long ago past) were the times that my boss gave thought about my contribution, put it in writing for me, and dedicated an hour or so to tell me in person. I kept those hand written letters for 20 years, and referred to them frequently when I felt doubts about my next challenge.

I agree that time off is great, but your personal time and acknowledgment of your employee may be more important than you might imagine. Just a thought.

My work doesn't really have an perks or rewards :grumpy: This year for Christmas we received a $5 Starbucks gift card!!!! Woo hoo! (Actually it was sorta nice, because usually we don't get anything. I work with people with disablilities, so funding for staff extra's is short). Seriously, if my work wanted to give me something that I would actually appreciate, it would be a raise, paid time off, a spa giftcertificate, or a nice pair of Rock and Republic jeans. The thing is, everyone has such a personal idea of what a good "reward" would be, so my suggestion is to think what would mean the most to your employee by what her interests etc are. Good luck!!

Little things make a difference. An extra 10 minutes a day for lunch would be cool. Or an extra break. Or a better parking space. Something like this. Employees love this stuff and each day she gets the extra 10 minute break, she'll feel appreciated.