Recognition programs are critical aspects of increasing employee engagement. Many organizations offer a company store as part of their recognition rewards program. A company store lets employees spend their recognition “dollars” or points on things they want most. This can eliminate (or greatly reduce) buying things employees don’t value.
Company stores often carry branded merchandise and company swag (stuff we all get). At Thanks, companies can partner to offer merchandise to their employees.
You might have read the article on the value of symbolic rewards in a recognition program. Many employers use the company store to offer symbolic awards that employees can choose from. In this article, we are going to cover those and other non-merchandise options that many of our clients like to add to their company stores inside the Thanks store.
1. Paid Time Off (Hours, ½ Days, or Full Days)
Add extra time off into your recognition company store. Employees can use their points to redeem for extra PTO and you can split it into as small as fractions as you’d like. Give extra PTO in 15-minute increments or, for more points, give half and full-paid days off.
Another spin on this idea is to allow employees to “donate” or share up to a certain amount of their PTO to another employee. Some organizations allow PTO sharing for specific emergencies while others allow employees to share with their colleagues as a way of recognizing them.
Pro Tip: We recommend limiting the amount of PTO employees can share for recognition to no more than 10% or about 1-2 days max. Donated PTO for special circumstances (such as Chemo) can be handled on a special basis.
2. Lunch With Your Manager (or CEO)
One important thing that millennials look for in an employer is mentoring availability. Give access to some of your company’s top leaders by providing lunch with the CEO. Or, add a simpler event like coffee or donuts with the CEO.
Give access to direct managers and those of other departments so employees can spend an hour picking their brain or building connections.
Pro Tip: Make sure you get the buy-in from the specific managers listed on the company store so that they don’t feel overwhelmed or resentful about having to take an hour out of their schedule.
3. Tickets To The Next Company Event
Many organizations host or attend special events. It may a local manager dinner meetup, a guest speaker, or a corporate party. Consider adding a couple of tickets for employees to redeem who would not otherwise attend.
This gives those interested employees an opportunity to go to events and network with others they wouldn’t have done before. Although not all tickets may be used, this gives employees who value it, the chance to go to activities that are important to them.
Pro Tip: Carefully consider the number of tickets you can make available based on the type of event. You may be surprised at which events are the most popular to employees.
4. Premium Parking Spot
Let employees buy premium parking spots. These may be spots that are closer to cleared sidewalks in the winter. Or they might include the nearest or most convenient parking spots. Set a rewards price and let employees buy a spot for a week or a month (depending on how many total employees park in an area and how many spots are available)
Alternative ideas include offering a bus or subway pass or paying for parking to a closer parking lot than the one offered to employees.
Pro Tip: Make a specific parking spot for recognition and when it’s not “purchased” from the company store- consider allowing managers to gift it out for the month. This will help ensure that it doesn’t remain empty. Decide how you will enforce the premium spot from individuals that may disregard who has the right to park there.
5. Paid Day To Donate To A Charity Of Your Choice
Some people value charitable giving and volunteerism as a form of recognition above gifts, monetary awards, and other recognition awards. Let those employees use their reward points to buy an extra day (or ½ day) to volunteer at a charity of their choice.
You can also offer specific dollar amounts that employees can buy for company contributions to a non-profit of their choice. Offer donations in increments.
Pro Tip: make sure that you have a process that saves the donation receipt and sends a copy to the employee so they are assured the donation was made. Or, create a way that employees can submit their donation for reimbursement.
6. Work From Home (Day, Week, Month)
The ability to work from home has gained importance since the advent of Covid-19. Many employees name flexible working locations as a primary consideration in choosing their employment. But, not all organizations can allow employees to work from home. Others have simply decided that remote work doesn’t work well with their corporate culture.
If you have positions or departments that can allow work-from-home options, consider offering it to your employees as a reward option. If your workplace follows a hybrid model, then work-from-home days can be used to excuse an employee who can’t make it in on a specific day they are scheduled to come in.
Pro Tip: Offering an occasional work-from-home day for positions that don’t usually enjoy that benefit can significantly reduce stress for employees with an emergency. Look at which positions might be able to accommodate it, even if it takes a little bit more set up to plan for.
7. Exclusive Access To Company Perks & Products
Consider offering the company’s products and perks offered to customers to employees. This may include additional features that employee accounts don’t usually have access to. Or, it might include passes that family and friends can use.
Disney offers a night in Cinderella’s castle as a reward for exceptional employees in their recognition program. Other passes are given as part of the program.
Your company might not have Cinderella’s Castle, but that’ sok. Consider offering the very products and services that make your company unique.
Pro Tip: Don’t assume that employees wouldn’t be interested in something offered to other businesses. Many employees can see a personal use for corporate products or have their own entrepreneurial ideas.
8. Late Arrival or Early Departure Freebie
You probably have an attendance policy that requiring employees to arrive at work at a committed time. If so, consider adding grace tardies to the company store. Employees who need to be late can cash in a grace tardy without it affecting their reviews or performance points.
Others who need an early departure can cash it in for a day they really need to get off early.
Pro Tip: If you create a series of rules around when employees can use tardy freebies, it will make the freebie worthless. Instead, consider adding an all-encompassing tardy for the employee who really needs it, even if its inconvenient.
9. SWAG You Have On Hand
Many employers have inventory from events, SWAG, and other merchandise that’s taking up space locally. Consider adding those items and clothes to your company store so employees can purchase them.
Most companies report having extra inventory of items left over from company events, promotions, team activities, and giveaways. Offer these items for employees to choose from.
Pro Tip: If you have older items, list them for sale or add them as an “add-on” bonus option when employees purchase other items. This will help you to clear out items that are taking up valuable space and get them to the employees who will wear and use them.
10. Local Events, Workshops, Training
Customize your company store with tickets to local community activities, events, and workshops. From concerts and plays to community training or workshops, local events can provide employees with growth and entertainment.
One of our Thanks employees chose to attend a ZOHO Workshop and was thrilled with the opportunity to expand her professional skills.
Pro Tip: Get employees involved by soliciting feedback on events they want available to purchase from the company store.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.