Employees like to be recognized for good work and loyal service. That's why it's a smart move for managers to frequently acknowledge their most dedicated employees, and periodically give them awards for exceptional work or key milestones. The common work-related sitations you should already be giving awards for are:

• Employment anniversaries (ex: 25 years with the company)
• Employee of the Month
• Employees who surpass quotas
• The retirement of longtime employees

These essential employee awards will go a long way in retaining valued workers, but these aren't the only types of awards you can dole out. Running a business takes a collection of great efforts from a stellar team, and you should always be finding ways to acknowledge the people that make your company successful. We came up with a list of less common types of awards you can give to employees. Feel free to chime in with any unique award ideas you have in the comment section at the bottom of this post.

1) The Most Punctual Employee

It doesn't matter how much someone loves their job-- it's tough to avoid slamming the snooze button in order to arrive at work on time. Employees who continually show up to work on time should be commended for their discipline. You don't have to just give an award for workers who arrive at work on time though. You can also recognize employees who are never late for a weekly meeting or conference call. Any of these clock awards will work, but if we had to pick one, this is one of our most popular in this category.

2) Employees Who Work Overtime

You never want to overwork your team, but sometimes there are big projects that require extra hours so that they get finished by a strict deadline. If you have an employee or group of employees who worked extra hard to ensure the timeliness of a project, they should probably deserve a free day off (or at least half day) to relax. And what better way to relax, than with a custom-etched bottle of wine.

3) Employees who made a good judgement call

You can train your staff to deal with the most common hiccups, but you can't cover every situation during your employee orientation. Sometimes an employee needs to make a clutch judgement call. For employees who make a great judgement call during a tough situation, we recommend our gavel awards. This is a popular gavel award that we sell...

4) Holiday Party Planners

The office holiday party is a fun time every year, but there's always someone behind the scenes that stresses out in order to make it happen. You might be giving this person a Christmas bonus already, but it doesn't hurt to also give them a long-lasting token of your appreciation. We recommend our custom tree ornaments.  Here's one of our ornaments that our customers seem to like...

5) Costume Contest Winners

It's OK to have a little fun in the office from time to time. There's a good chance your company does a Halloween costume contest every October, and if you do, we have the perfect prize...

6) Office ninjas

This type of award goes to the employees who continually work hard, regardless of whether or not they're being monitored. This goes to employees who go above and beyond to make sure the office is running smoothly. This is an award for a worker who kicks butt... 

Don't be afraid to give awards to your most valued employees

As a manager or business owner, it's your job to make sure that your employees want to work for you. One of the easiest and cost-effective ways is to give them awards or trophies to make sure that they know they're appreciated. If you have any questions about our products, don't hesitate to call us at 800-377-8646.