HR & Engagement Writer
1
Top Culture Reward Ideas and Templates for 2024
5 min read
Published: May 1, 2023
Revised on: Mar 1, 2024
Here’s our curated shortlist and our reasons for liking each company; please click into each company to get more details:
- WorkTango
- Easy to use and user-friendly interface. Many reviews mentioned how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Ability to easily recognize and reward coworkers. Giving points and recognition is seamless.
- Fun way to boost employee morale. The gamification and rewards help motivate employees.
- Provides insight into employee engagement. The data and analytics provide valuable insights.
- Good variety of rewards to choose from. Many gift cards and merchandise options in the catalog.
- Motivosity
- Makes it easy and fun to recognize and reward peers and employees. Many reviews mentioned how Motivosity makes it simple to give thanks and praise to coworkers.
- Improves employee morale, culture, and engagement. Multiple reviews highlighted how Motivosity has enhanced company culture, boosted team morale, and improved employee engagement.
- Fosters connections between remote/hybrid teams. Reviews noted how Motivosity helps remote and dispersed teams stay connected.
- Provides visibility into what's happening across the company. Reviews liked being able to see praise and recognition across the organization.
- User-friendly interface. Many reviews complimented Motivosity's clean and easy-to-use interface.
- Awardco
- Easy to use and user friendly interface. Many reviews mention how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Wide variety of redemption options, including gift cards, donations, and products through Amazon. Provides employees choice in how they want to be rewarded.
- Ability to recognize coworkers both publicly and privately. Allows for flexibility in giving praise.
- Integration with Amazon for product redemptions. Gives access to a huge catalog of items.
- Features like the recognition feed increase engagement and positivity among employees. Helps boost morale.
- Assembly
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
- Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
- Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
- Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
- Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.
- Guusto
- Wide variety of gift card options to choose from
- Easy and simple to use
- Good customer service
- Ability to split gift card amounts between multiple merchants
- Option for recipients to select gift card of their choice
It starts with an employee and a culture reward plan, as it often does in forward-thinking and productive organizations. So what’s the “it” in this case?
It = anything from employee engagement, recognition, appreciation, motivation, or retention. It’s every effort an organization makes to create the best workplace culture possible.
When you think about it, this makes sense, employees give employers the bulk of their daily hours. Employers should give something back to balance the scales beyond salaries and basic comp packages. As employees punch above their weight to get work done, employers should also go above and beyond to appreciate them.
How Do You Create a Reward Structure?
Establishing a reward structure in the workplace involves several key steps to ensure its effectiveness and fairness. Here’s a guide to creating a robust reward system:
- Define Objectives and Metrics: Clearly outline the goals and objectives you want to achieve through the reward system. Whether it’s boosting productivity, fostering teamwork, or encouraging innovation, align the rewards with these objectives. Identify measurable metrics to track progress.
- Understand Employee Needs: Different employees have different motivations. Some might value monetary rewards, while others prefer recognition or opportunities for growth. Conduct surveys or interviews to understand what motivates your employees.
- Choose Reward Types: Offer a variety of rewards beyond monetary compensation. This might include recognition programs, career development opportunities, flexible work hours, additional time off, or non-monetary incentives like gift cards, extra vacation days, or experiences.
- Make it Transparent and Fair: Clearly communicate the criteria for earning rewards. Ensure that the process is transparent and fair for all employees. Ambiguity or favoritism can demotivate rather than encourage.
- Regular Feedback and Evaluation: Provide regular feedback to employees on their performance. Evaluate progress toward goals and provide recognition or rewards accordingly. Continuous assessment allows for adjustments to the reward structure as needed.
- Celebrate Achievements: Celebrate milestones and achievements openly. Recognize individual and team successes publicly to encourage others and reinforce the desired behaviors.
- Adjust and Evolve: Periodically review the reward system's effectiveness. Gather feedback from employees and make adjustments based on changing company needs or employee preferences.
- Promote a Culture of Recognition: Encourage a culture where peers recognize each other's contributions. Implement systems that allow employees to nominate their colleagues for outstanding work or efforts.
- Senior Management Support: Gain support from senior management. Their buy-in and participation can significantly enhance the effectiveness of the reward system.
- Communication is Key: Clearly communicate the reward structure, criteria, and any changes to the entire workforce. Use multiple channels to ensure everyone understands and has access to the information.
A successful reward structure is not one-size-fits-all. It should evolve and adapt based on the changing dynamics of the workforce and the organization’s goals.
What Are Examples of Rewards to Give Employees for Their Contributions and or Achievements?
There are various rewards you can offer employees to recognize their efforts, contributions, and achievements. Here are some reward ideas you should consider incorporating into your employee recognition programs, especially if employee motivation and employee retentions are the goals.
Monetary Rewards:
- Bonuses: Year-end bonuses, performance-based bonuses, and spot bonuses for exceptional work.
- Salary Increases: Merit-based raises or promotions.
- Profit Sharing: Sharing a percentage of company profits with employees.
- Gift Cards: Allow them to choose their own rewards.
Non-Monetary Rewards:
- Extra Time Off: Additional vacation days, flexible work hours, or a longer lunch break.
- Recognition Programs: Employee of the month/year awards, public recognition in meetings or newsletters.
- Professional Development: Funding for courses, conferences, workshops, mentorship opportunities.
- Company Swag: Branded merchandise like shirts, mugs, or tech gadgets.
Experiences:
- Team Outings: Organize a team-building activity, a lunch, or a dinner.
- Travel Incentives: Trip incentives or a weekend getaway for top performers.
- Tickets to Events: Concerts, sports games, or cultural events.
Health and Wellness:
- Gym Memberships: Reimburse or subsidize memberships to gyms or wellness centers.
- Wellness Programs: Subsidized healthy meals, mindfulness sessions, yoga classes.
Customized Rewards:
- Personalized Gifts: Gifts tailored to individual interests or hobbies.
- Additional Responsibilities: Assigning leadership roles or special projects.
Top Culture Reward Ideas and Tools for 2024
In this article, we're sharing productivity tools to check out when executing culture reward ideas. These tools have pre-existing features and templates to explore and can be customized per your objectives.
Pricing
Contact sales for pricing
- Seat Minimum: 150 Users
As an ultimate employee engagement and experience platform, leaving WorkTango out of the recognition and rewards conversation is difficult. Not when the employee recognition platform comes equipped with features and options that make integrating culture rewards into the average workplace easy. It also helps that most of its processes are automated and immediately available to your employees once they're up and running. With how WorkTango is set up, your employees can choose from thousands of products and gift cards from famous brands or create custom culture rewards that align with your organization’s core values. They can also redeem reward points to use during their travels, at hotels, or to get access to other experiences.
Reasons to Love WorkTango:
- Their customer service response time and presence are unparalleled
- They’ve also done a lot of work to make the platform easy to use and easily integrated into other workplace tools
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Easy to use and user-friendly interface. Many reviews mentioned how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Ability to easily recognize and reward coworkers. Giving points and recognition is seamless.
- Fun way to boost employee morale. The gamification and rewards help motivate employees.
- Provides insight into employee engagement. The data and analytics provide valuable insights.
- Good variety of rewards to choose from. Many gift cards and merchandise options in the catalog.
Cons
- Point system not ideal. Reviews mentioned points being hard to earn or expiring too quickly.
- Rewards catalog limitations. Some wanted more options, lower point costs, or better rewards.
- Reporting and analytics could be better. Some found the data analysis functionality lacking.
- Issues with notifications. Reviews cited missing or too frequent notifications as problems.
- Navigation issues. Some found the site navigation confusing or unintuitive at times.
Pricing
$2.00 per user/month
- Seat Minimum: 10 Users
Something about Motivosity screams, “Motivate your employees”, maybe that’s even the thinking behind the name. One of the more interesting things about this software is its bold claim that it has rewards and recognition for employees that “won’t get thrown away.” It only means that they’ve put a lot of thought into developing this solution, and if their ratings are anything to go by, they’re right on the money. Another exciting thing about their culture reward options is that they’re customizable. You can use their rewards ideas or make custom ones to fit your organization’s culture goals. The important thing to note for employee recognition and rewards programs is that they’ve positioned themselves as every organization’s best friend.
Reasons to Love Motivosity:
- The option to customize rewards gives users good value for money
- The interface is exciting to explore and aesthetically pleasing
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Makes it easy and fun to recognize and reward peers and employees. Many reviews mentioned how Motivosity makes it simple to give thanks and praise to coworkers.
- Improves employee morale, culture, and engagement. Multiple reviews highlighted how Motivosity has enhanced company culture, boosted team morale, and improved employee engagement.
- Fosters connections between remote/hybrid teams. Reviews noted how Motivosity helps remote and dispersed teams stay connected.
- Provides visibility into what's happening across the company. Reviews liked being able to see praise and recognition across the organization.
- User-friendly interface. Many reviews complimented Motivosity's clean and easy-to-use interface.
Cons
- Leaderboards can cause unwanted competition. Some reviews felt the leaderboards promoted competition instead of true recognition.
- Money rewards aren't always motivating. A few reviewers felt the money wasn't the real motivator - the recognition was more meaningful.
- Reporting and analytics could be better. Some reviews wanted more robust reporting capabilities.
- Mobile app lacks functionality. The mobile app was called out for missing key desktop features.
- Technical glitches. A couple reviews cited occasional technical issues with the software.
3
Awardco
Pricing
Contact sales for pricing
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
Your organization and Awardco have one thing in common, making your employees happy. Awardco is “the largest reward network in the world.” They’re confident that if your employees have more reward choices, it means fewer headache episodes for you. As your employees amass Awardco points and redeem thousands of reward options from partners like Amazon Business and gift card providers, your organization’s employee motivation rate continues to climb.
Reasons to Love Awardco:
- There’s a vast library of culture reward ideas and options tailored towards the organization’s budgets, company culture, and employee needs
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: "Rewards and recognition platform is the best thing since sliced bread!"
Pros
- Easy to use and user friendly interface. Many reviews mention how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Wide variety of redemption options, including gift cards, donations, and products through Amazon. Provides employees choice in how they want to be rewarded.
- Ability to recognize coworkers both publicly and privately. Allows for flexibility in giving praise.
- Integration with Amazon for product redemptions. Gives access to a huge catalog of items.
- Features like the recognition feed increase engagement and positivity among employees. Helps boost morale.
Cons
- Limited selection of products compared to full Amazon catalog. Not all options on Amazon are available.
- Inability to pay difference when order total exceeds points balance. Must have exact points amount.
- Reporting capabilities could be more robust for admins. Some want more data analysis options.
- Navigation issues like having to reload item list when going back to browsing. Causes inconvenience.
- Lack of ability to track shipments of ordered items. Status not always clear after ordering.
4
Assembly
Pricing
$2.80 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
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There’s a cool fact about Assembly you might be interested in, they’ve helped thousands of companies achieve a 95% employee engagement rate, which is no mean feat by any standards. Their tools and features are around workplace culture and its elements, including employee recognition and culture reward initiatives. Fundamentally, Assembly makes rewarding your employees, for embodying your organization’s cultural values, a breeze. With over 200+ workflow templates available, the world is your canvas when figuring out how to incorporate and scale employee appreciation incentives and rewards in your organization.
Reasons to Love Assembly:
- There are over 1000 redeemable gift card options in its rewards collection
- It allows for easy integration into other everyday employee productivity tools like Slack
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
- Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
- Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
- Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
- Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.
Cons
- Limitations in analytics and reporting features. Some reviews wanted more detailed analytics and user statistics.
- Creating flows and automations can be tricky. Reviews noted workflows and automations are sometimes hard to setup.
- Limited customization options for recognitions. Users wanted more ways to customize recognitions with images/GIFs.
- Lack of mobile apps earlier on. Reviews mentioned lack of mobile apps made it hard to use when not by a computer.
- Confusion due to branding changes. Reviews noted frequent name changes of the reward units was confusing initially.
5
Guusto
Pricing
$40.00 per user/month
- Free version
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
Guusto’s value proposition is very familiar: they want to help employers and HR professionals “build a culture where people love to work.” But how are they approaching this? Through culture and reward options. These rewards, once redeemed, can be used on a collection of gifts and experiences. They also ensure that their rewards are things your employees will want.
Reasons to Love Guusto:
- Rewards don’t expire and are redeemable at any time
- Their cards work with over 60,000 merchants and stores, giving your employees more options and increasing their chances of finding something they’ll truly value
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Wide variety of gift card options to choose from
- Easy and simple to use
- Good customer service
- Ability to split gift card amounts between multiple merchants
- Option for recipients to select gift card of their choice
Cons
- Some issues with less tech-savvy users having trouble redeeming
- Can be confusing to navigate initially
- Reporting capabilities could be improved
- Limited customization options
- Fees associated with credit card payments
6
Nectar
Pricing
$2.75 per user/month
- Seat Minimum: 50 Users
Nectar wants to create the best workplace culture for organizations that trust and use its employee recognition and rewards programs. The team at Nectar has built its core values around this goal, calling these efforts CREATE, an acronym for Connection, Recognition, Empathy, Alignment, Trust, and Elevation. These pillars help the team build solutions for organizations looking for intuitive ways of incorporating culture reward and employee appreciation incentives into their daily operations. Nectar's culture reward catalog includes access to the Amazon marketplace and a collection of gift cards. You can also request company-branded swag or give employees the option to donate their points (and accompanying rewards) to charity. Employees can also create custom rewards if existing templates don’t work for them.
Reasons to Love Nectar:
- You can use their reward options anywhere in the world
- The simplicity of its user interface is unmatched
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- Makes it easy to recognize and reward employees (praise, points, gifts)
- Boosts employee morale and positivity in the workplace
- Allows recognition across departments and remote teams
- Simple and intuitive interface, easy to use
- Provides analytics and insights into employee recognition
Cons
- Limited options for rewards in some regions/countries
- Can feel like a popularity contest with the leaderboards
- Monthly points expire if not used quickly enough
- Not integrated with common workplace tools like Slack or Teams
- Mobile app is not as robust as desktop site
Conclusion
Employee recognition and reward are the driving forces behind everything organizations, and HR professionals hold dear, from employee engagement to employee retention. Isn’t it great when organizations can hold on to their best people for as long as possible? If you weren’t sure how best to incorporate culture reward ideas into your employee recognition programs, we hope this article has provided some clarity and introduced you to tools to start incorporating for this process. Whether you choose existing templates and reward options or custom culture rewards, one thing is sure: culture rewards and templates will move the needle in your employee engagement efforts.
