Rewarding employees is not always expensive and this is an art which can be mastered easily. With the whole job market situation is precarious, there is more pressure on the organization to sustain in the business and retain the best possible talent.

The School of thought on how to reward employees varies across the globe and is mainly differentiated into 2 ways, one is monetary way of rewarding employees and the other one is the non monetary way. In pure financial terms, rewards are always meant to be monetary but rewarding an employee monetarily will take the very essence of rewarding employees as every work of the employee will be equated to monetary benefits like how much will I get if I do this, how much will I get if I do that work, etc.

Non-monetary benefits help to recognize the efforts put in by employees in their work at all times and help in building a strong employee base in the organization. If the rewards are monetary then the management has to identify for what work does the employee needs to be rewarded and the scope of rewarding employees would come down drastically and finally the purpose of rewarding employees will come to a standstill.

Non monetary benefits can be applied to an individual or to a team as a whole. Non monetary benefits help in bringing employees and the teams together. Non monetary benefits will be devoid of selfishness, ego, jealously which can happen when the employees get rewarded monetarily.

People crave for positive feedback and acknowledgement from their leaders and peers. This warm feeling of being recognized for work that you have put your time and effort into is priceless.
Some ways to reward your employees which can be etched in their memories forever:

Thank You Cards: Mark a day once in a quarter to hand out the Thank You cards to all the employees who have contributed to the success of the project and to the organization. Success strategies implemented in the project can be listed in the Thank You Card which they will perish it for a long time.

Pot Luck Get Together: Provide a company luncheon for a perfect bonding with the employees. Have each employee sign up to bring in a dish. It’s not even so much the food, as the camaraderie people experience at a work luncheon that makes it a hit. Socializing with management makes them feel like a valued part of the team.

Trust them to do their job: For some people, the only reward they need is to feel valued and appreciated. You can show them your appreciation by allowing them some flexibility and giving them added responsibilities that you know they can handle.
The Boss’s Office: Swap desks with your employee for a day, as a reward. They still do their work of course, but with their feet up on the desk.

Company Scrapbook: Create a scrapbook as your company grows over time. Each month start off a scrapbook page with the employee you’re recognizing. Their names will be part of history, literally.

Wall of Fame: Create a wall of fame for each recognized employee. Be sure to write below their picture what they did that you’re recognizing them for.

Appreciate Personal Wins:
Don’t just appreciate employees for what they do for you. If they’ve achieved a milestone in their lives outside the office, celebrate with them in the office. Decorate their cubicle with balloons and cards when they achieve a personal win, like completing a marathon, winning a tournament, losing weight (if they’ve been public with their diet), having a baby, buying a new home or graduating from a class.

Family Day: Set aside one afternoon once in a quarter for employees to bring in family, kids or friends. Set up tours of the company so their family can see where they work and what they do and how it feels to get know his colleagues.

Performance Hours: If employees consistently perform well, give them “performance hours” tokens they can redeem to take a longer lunch, run errands or use for personal reasons.
Thank the Entire Family: When the employee has to go out of town, work longer hours or weekends, or is taken away from their family for work-related reasons, write a note, send flowers or gift cards for dinner out to the employee’s spouse, acknowledging the family’s sacrifice and thanking them for it. Tickets to a local amusement park or museum for the entire family (including your employee) to visit for the day is also a nice gesture.

There are several ways in making the employee feel he is being recognized such as Prime Car Parking Spot, Royal Chair (An employee deserves the chair for his performance and will be on a rotational basis until it goes to the next achiever), Birthday Parties and Get togethers, gift vouchers related to employee interests, movie tickets, souvenirs and the list goes on.

Not everything revolves around money. By recognizing your employees for their accomplishments and not putting a dollar amount on their contributions, you are giving them the gift of esteem. In return, you will get higher employee engagement and retention.