10 Creative Incentives for WFH Employees
If you transitioned your workforce to telecommuting during the pandemic, your staff might feel a little neglected. After all, you aren’t there in the office with them to hand out kudos, and they could feel like their efforts go unrecognized.
Why not show your appreciation by sending them a little thank you for their hard work? After all, your staff is the lifeblood of your enterprise.
Here are ten creative incentives for WFH employees.
1. Relaxing Tea
You have to be careful when sending your employees beverages. As much as you might want to delight them with an evening tipple, many people already drink too much alcohol during the pandemic. Plus, you never know who among your crew might be newly recovering.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t send your staff a little liquid relaxation — in the form of healing teas. Blends containing herbs such as lemongrass and passionflower possess calmative properties. So do chamomile and lavender. Since they’re caffeine-free, you’ll delight even those who are sensitive to go-juice.
2. Dinnertime Relief
If your staff members had to add “homeschool teacher” to their resumes this year, they could long for anything other than takeout pizza. It’s challenging enough to juggle a career and family without having to play Martha Stewart at dinnertime.
Why not nourish their souls and bellies with a meal delivery gift that’s different from the norm? You can send perishable foods like lobster and crab by mail, and your generosity will delight those who simply lack time to get to the grocery store.
3. Desktop Games
Working is a grind regardless of where you perform it. However, when you have a WFH crew, they can’t take a mini-mental break by visiting the water cooler.
Help them ease stress with an amusing desktop game. Sometimes, directing your mental energy toward a different problem, like how to untangle a bar puzzle, can provide that inspirational spark.
4. A Zen Garden
Mindfulness can help your workers supercharge their productivity by getting them out of ruminating about an uncertain future and focusing on the task at hand. Help them take a break to recenter on the present moment with a zen garden.
You can find these for under $20 at many retailers. Your employees can clear their minds while they comb the sand.
5. An Upgraded Chair
If your employees sit all day, they could get repetitive strain injuries from an ill-fitting chair. However, they won’t head to HR to request a new one when they telecommute. Why not offer to make their WFH setup more ergonomic?
Some employees might want a traditional model, while others might experience more back pain relief from a standing desk. Still others might prefer an inflatable fitness ball — give your staff a choice.
6. Some Protective Specs
The WFH life means spending long hours at the computer. All that blue-light exposure can upset circadian rhythms and make sleep even more challenging at a time when many already struggle to get their Zzz’s.
You can protect their peepers with a pair of blue-light-cutting glasses. Granted, this incentive does require you to do a bit of investigative work — you’ll want to find out if the fortunate staff members need a prescription pair before you buy. A twist
7. Audiobook Credits
By this point in the pandemic, your employees have probably binge-watched every decent Netflix series out there. Give them a new way to spend their spare time with a gift of audiobook credits.
Your staff members don’t even need a special device to use this gift. They can download and enjoy their podcasts and books from nearly any laptop or phone.
8. An Aromatherapy Kit
Fragrance can influence mood, and scents like citrus can increase productivity. However, traditional paraffin wax candles can release toxins like toluene into their indoor air.
However, you can pick up stylish aromatherapy diffusers that use healing essential oils for less than $20 at many retailers. Include a variety of fragrances, with some intended to relax, others to invigorate.
9. An App Subscription
Your WFH employees spend tons of time in the digital world. Is there an app that would help make their lives easier? These days, you can find versions intended to do anything from organizing your family’s grocery list to planning your schedule for the week.
You don’t even have to ask your staff members what they need. You can find gift certificates to app stores that let your workers select those tools that will help them the most.
10. Time
A recent survey of 2,000 workers found that nearly half of all employees can’t handle the financial and emotional costs of taking time off work, even when they desperately need the break. The problem compounds when people work from home and perceive that they should power through, even if their bodies scream for rest. Hourly employees might face the grim economic reality of coming up short on rent if they take a sick day.
The solution? Why not give them the gift of an unexpected day off if things are slow? It won’t add any direct costs to your bottom line and could hugely repay you in increased productivity once your staff gets some much-needed downtime.
Delight Your WFH Employees With These Creative Incentives
If your staff transitioned to the WFH life during the pandemic, they could feel left out and unappreciated. Delight them with one of these ten creative incentives.
