The universal reward for difficult work constantly appears to be food: cake and ice cream, a catered lunch for in-service training sessions, pizza for the overtime crew, bagels and cream cheese to brighten up a bleak Monday early morning.
Just recently, we had a whole week at my company devoted to employee gratitude. The primary incentives were, obviously, food however various other things were added: a company baseball cap, a hiking water container, a lunch bag, and a handwritten note of thanks to every worker from their manager. The cap was a bust for those of us with any modicum of fashion sense; the insulated flask and bag were food related, and the handwritten notes were superfluous - good managers show their recognition of effort regularly while a handwritten note from an extreme supervisor, no matter the "thanks" stated, indicates diddly squat to a resentful staff member.
When it comes to our other senses, all of us vary so much that one person’s satisfaction is an additional person’s pain: music, fragrance, images, or massages are differential tastes instead of general givens.
Small specific pots or a bigger division bush would conserve our waists while including to the wellness and esthetics of our environment. I determine, just within my call center, that if a plant had been offered to each division, rather of an edible goodie, for events over the past 5 years, that I would now be working in a rich rain woodland of unique plants where the stale re-processed air conditioned air would be purer, more humid, and a thousand times fresher.
Rather of a handwritten note, exactly how about getting Supervisors to do their subordinates work duties for an hour or so, when in a while? Can you think of the spirits boost for an employee to get off the telephone, or the device, or the computer system, and shoot the breeze with good friends for an hour while their duties are performed by their managers?
Each person gets one cost-free card and additional cards can be provided by supervisors for exceptional work, guaranteeing that the much better employees have more cards. And let staff members utilize their cards for colleagues who might require them - think of the teambuilding that would achieve!