10 Fun Employee Awards That Boost Team Morale

Max Andreassen
10 Fun Employee Awards That Boost Team Morale

Standard "Employee of the Month" programs can feel stale. Fun employee awards go beyond performance metrics to celebrate personality, humour, and the small wins that make a team great.

A good awards system reinforces your company values, boosts morale, and shows your team their efforts are seen and appreciated. For ideas on rewards, consider employee appreciation gift ideas that truly resonate.

This guide offers 10 creative, remote-friendly award ideas you can use right away.

1. The Remote MVP (Most Valuable Player) Award

The Remote MVP award honours an employee who excels at working remotely. They bridge the physical distance with great collaboration, communication, and problem-solving. This is one of the best fun employee awards for celebrating those who make remote work feel less remote.

A modern office desk setup with a laptop showing a glowing trophy, an MVP mug, and wall clocks.

This award is great for teams in different time zones, highlighting people who communicate proactively and support colleagues asynchronously.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Monthly. A £50 gift card or a quality desk accessory.
  • Nominations: Use a tool like GoodKudos for peer nominations.
  • Recognition: Announce the winner in a public team channel (like Slack), sharing why they won. A structured approach can be found in our employee recognition programme template.

2. The Meme Lord / Humor Champion Award

This award celebrates the team member who brings joy and laughter to work chats. They use wit and good humour to lift spirits and make communication more human. It’s a top choice for fun employee awards that foster a positive atmosphere.

A happy man in a denim shirt smiles while looking at his phone, a laptop with stickers is nearby.

This award is great for remote teams where conversations can feel impersonal. For inspiration, check out these work memes.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Monthly or quarterly. A custom mug with their best meme or a £25 food delivery voucher.
  • Rules: Ensure all humour is inclusive and kind.
  • Recognition: Announce the winner in your team channel with a custom "award meme."

3. The Async Communication Hero Award

This award recognizes employees who master asynchronous communication. They write clear messages, provide great context, and reduce the need for endless meetings. This is a practical and fun employee award for modern workplaces.

Clear async communication helps teams work effectively across time zones. It shows respect for colleagues' time and focus.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A subscription to a productivity tool or a £50 book voucher.
  • Nominations: When nominating, ask for specific examples of great communication.
  • Recognition: Acknowledge the winner in a company-wide channel, praising specific examples of their clear communication.

4. The Innovation Spark Award

The Innovation Spark Award celebrates an employee who contributes a creative idea or a clever solution. It encourages a culture of continuous improvement. This is a forward-thinking choice among fun employee awards for building a proactive team.

A hand points to a lightbulb drawing in a notebook next to a glowing lightbulb, symbolizing a new idea.

This award shows that all team members can contribute to the company's growth.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A £100 professional development budget or dedicated time to work on a proposed project.
  • Nominations: Create a dedicated channel for idea submissions.
  • Recognition: Announce the winner and their idea in a company-wide meeting. Celebrate great ideas even if they aren't implemented.

5. The Mentorship & Lift Award

This award celebrates employees who guide and develop their teammates. It's especially important in remote settings where informal mentorship is harder to see. It’s one of the most meaningful fun employee awards for building a supportive culture.

A virtual meeting between two women on laptops, with a notebook and coffee on a desk.

Celebrating these individuals reinforces a culture of learning and shows that helping others succeed is a valued contribution.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A professional development budget or a subscription to a learning platform.
  • Nominations: Ask peers to share specific stories of how the nominee helped them grow.
  • Recognition: Announce the winner in a team-wide meeting, sharing examples of their mentorship.

6. The Reliability & Dependability Award

This award recognizes the quiet heroes who are always consistent and dependable. They deliver on commitments and can always be counted on. It's a meaningful choice for fun employee awards because it validates the steady work that builds trust.

This award spotlights those whose steady performance enables others to succeed.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A wellness app subscription or an extra half-day off.
  • Nominations: Encourage peers to share how a nominee's dependability supported them.
  • Recognition: Publicly praise the winner in a team meeting to reinforce the value of dependability. Acknowledging these behaviours is a great way to improve employee engagement.

7. The Customer Champion Award

This award celebrates employees who go above and beyond for customers. It recognizes exceptional support and creative problem-solving. This is a vital choice for fun employee awards to reinforce a customer-first culture.

This award isn't just for customer-facing roles. It's for anyone who keeps the customer in mind.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A £100 experience gift card or an extra day off.
  • Nominations: Collect nominations from customer feedback, reviews, or internal teams.
  • Recognition: Announce the winner in a company meeting, sharing the customer story that led to the award.

8. The Resilience & Adaptability Award

This award recognizes employees who navigate change with a positive attitude. They adapt quickly to new challenges and support teammates through uncertainty. It's a great fun employee award for honouring strength in dynamic environments.

Acknowledging resilience reinforces a supportive, agile culture, especially during times of change.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A £75 wellness voucher or a subscription to a meditation app.
  • Nominations: Allow peers to nominate colleagues who helped them through a tough transition.
  • Recognition: Share stories of how the winner adapted, showing the organisation values a positive outlook.

9. The Inclusion & Belonging Champion Award

This award celebrates an employee who actively makes teammates feel welcome and valued. They build genuine connections and advocate for others. In remote teams, this is one of the most important fun employee awards you can introduce.

This recognition highlights those who create psychological safety and a positive workplace culture.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A donation to a charity of the winner’s choice or a £75 gift card.
  • Nominations: Encourage nominations from all levels and departments to avoid bias.
  • Recognition: Use a tool like GoodKudos to publicly thank champions and share examples of their inclusive actions.

10. The Collaboration & Teamwork Award

This award recognizes employees who excel at working across departments and breaking down silos. They are the glue that holds distributed teams together. It's a vital fun employee award for promoting a culture of collective success.

This award highlights those who proactively build bridges between teams.

How to Implement It:

  • Frequency & Prize: Quarterly. A team-based reward like a catered lunch (virtual or in-person) or a group experience voucher.
  • Nominations: Ask team members to nominate collaborators from other departments.
  • Recognition: Announce winners in a company-wide forum. For more ideas, see these employee recognition programme examples.

Making Your Awards Meaningful

We've explored a range of fun employee awards, but a great program is more than just a list of titles. The key is to align recognition with your company’s values and the behaviours you want to encourage.

Keys to Lasting Impact:

  • Be Sincere: A heartfelt, specific message means more than an expensive gift without context.
  • Be Consistent: A regular schedule for awards builds anticipation and makes recognition part of your culture.
  • Make It Easy: Use simple, quick tools for nominations so everyone can participate.

Your Next Steps

Start by picking one or two fun employee awards from this list that fit your team. Announce the awards, explain the criteria, and get started.

After the first round, ask for feedback to refine your program. The goal is to create a system that feels authentic to your culture and makes every team member feel seen and valued.

Ready to make recognition simple and meaningful? Good Kudos lets you easily record and share video or written messages, making it effortless to implement the fun employee awards in this article. Build a stronger, more connected team by visiting Good Kudos today.