25+ Creative New Year Awards Ideas to Recognize and Reward Employees

The New Year isn't just a date on the calendar; it's the single most critical moment to reset motivation, acknowledge past success, and inspire future performance.

As your team shifts focus from holiday celebrations to quarterly goals, the question remains: How do you keep the momentum high and ensure your employees feel genuinely valued?

The answer is a strategically planned New Year awards and rewards program.

This guide provides a definitive blueprint for launching high-impact recognition strategies that celebrate hard work, boost engagement, and set a positive, goal-oriented tone for the year ahead.

You'll find creative ideas for:

• Top-tier awards that honor outstanding performance.
• Budget-friendly rewards for daily recognition.
• Innovative recognition ideas to connect remote and hybrid teams.

Discover how to turn New Year's resolutions into team achievements using the power of appreciation and a platform like Empuls to deliver recognition seamlessly.

12 Best New Year reward ideas for workplace 

There are many happy new year reward ideas you can use to appreciate and recognize the efforts put in by your workforce, but we have filtered the best for you. 

1. Have an annual awards ceremony 

Organizing an annual awards ceremony this new year can show your employees their hard work is valued. It can also help them initiate an annual tradition for a positive work culture. Award them with fun titles that we have covered in the second half of the blog.

2. Learning and development gift vouchers 

Promoting consistent growth among employees can positively impact your productivity. Reward your employees who are learning and growing with gift vouchers for retaining top performers. 

3. Personalized stationery 

Branded pens or notepads can be thoughtful gifts showing your employees you care about them. Your employees would not appreciate the gesture, which can boost their morale and productivity. 

4. Certificate of appreciation 

Saying thank you using a certificate of appreciation to your employees is a great way to show that their hard work is valued and recognized at your organization. 

5. Gift cards 

Giving gift cards this new year can remind your employees of your business and the hard work they put in that got them your appreciation. 

6. Unique experiences 

Delivering unique experiences to your employees can help create a happy and positive work ecosystem. Unique new year’s rewards can be a great expression of recognition. 

7. Combination rewards 

Combine multiple rewards to increase the positive impact on the employees and ensure you improve employee retention, recognition, and happiness at your company. 

8. Unique work-related gifts 

Providing quality and personalized work-related gifts like laptop, customized tech kit organizer, stationary, etc. can foster a connection to the team and a sense of belonging.

9. Local sports event tickets 

Keeping your best employees engaged in interesting activities and buying their favorite sports event tickets can encourage togetherness and positive work culture. 

10. Incentive trips 

Incentivize your top performers with national or international trips using data-backed insights to show your appreciation towards their hard work and dedication. 

11. Offer more vacation days 

Let your employee rejuvenate and recover from consistent dedication and grit to help your company with more vacation days in the upcoming year. 

12. Movie tickets 

Gifting entertainment escapades helps your employees relax and reduce stress. Give them gift cards to buy tickets of their favorite movies and let them relax with their loved ones. 

13. Fine dining with the team 

Offering splendid fine dining experiences to your employees as a team will make them feel appreciated and recognized. It can also bring a sense of connectedness. 

14. A personalized wish from the CEO 

Improving leadership visibility wins over employees' minds and hearts using personalized happy new year wishes. 

Implementing these new year reward ideas can promote employee engagement with your brand and unlock the true potential of your biggest competitive advantage. 

Apart from these best new year reward ideas, you can also use different awards to retain your best talent and integrate a people-first culture. 

24 Fun new year awards for employees and teams 

Giving recognition awards this new year can help you make your employees aware that you're aware of their outstanding accomplishments. It can make people feel valued at work and show gratitude for each person's good job. 

1. Most improved award 

Employees who have improved significantly in their performance in the past year, month, or quarter can be awarded the most improved award this new year. 

2. Best attendance award 

Employees who showcase their determination and grit by coming to work the most number of days can be awarded the best attendance award. 

3. No pain, no gain award 

The awards help recognize people who put in extra effort to help the company achieve its desired targets. 

4. The social butterfly award 

In the digital age, an interesting, fun office awards collection is incomplete without a social butterfly award for your star employee who is highly active on social media platforms. 

5. Customer service award 

Acknowledge employees who consistently provide outstanding customer service to improve your business presence. 

6. The perfect attendance award 

Award your passionate and enthusiastic employees with pitch-perfect attendance records over a specific time duration. 

7. Employee of the month (or quarter) award 

Appreciate your employees who have worked and have excelled in their performance benchmark for a specific time. 

8. The motivator award 

This award is given to employees with leadership skills who play a key role in motivating others who are low on confidence. It helps to improve the overall team’s productivity. 

9. Outstanding support award 

The award is presented to employees who always support their colleagues and help the team achieve desired outcomes with finesse. 

10. Above and beyond award 

Similar to the employee of the month award, the above and beyond award also recognizes employees who have exceeded expectations and delivered exceptional results and is an excellent way to reward special achievements with physical awards. 

11. Team player award 

The award is given to that team employee who‌ values the team's success above theirs. 

12. Awesome personality award 

This award is given to an employee who has a unique and impressive personality. 

13. Friendliest person award 

This award is given to that person who builds good friendship bonds with all the employees at the workplace. 

14. Best dressed award 

This award is given to the employee who is best dressed at your corporate new year event. 

15. Coach/mentor of the year award 

This recognition award is given to an employee who has effectively coached or mentored their subordinate in solving problems, improving performance, and helping build skills. 

16. The WFH ‘hall of fame’ award 

This unique award is given to an employee who has been a consistent performer during work from home and has always met the project or team expectations. 

17. The award for bringing the fun 

This award falls in a special category of rewards and recognition where an employee always tries to bring a fun element to the workplace, making the working environment positive. It can also be given to the employees for performing some fun activity during the office new year party. 

18. The team spirit award 

The team spirit award is vital at work and is given to employees who have tried to foster transparent communication, collaboration and embody the essence of a passionate workplace. 

19. The resolutions master award 

This award is given to an employee who has the best new year resolution. 

20. The rockstar employee award 

The rockstar employee award is given to that employee who has been a flag bearer by going above and beyond their job and always showing passion, dedication, and empathy towards the team. 

21. The best prognosticator award 

This award is given to those unique employees who help the organization to focus on future business continuity plans. To achieve this award, an employee should be very well equipped with business skills and be experienced. 

22. The "positive attitude" award 

This award is given to an employee who has always tried to promote a positive culture in the workplace by showing a positive attitude toward the team. 

23. Most supportive employee 

This award is given to an employee who has helped their peers at work and has always been a supporting partner toward the team. 

24. Most dedicated employee 

This award is given to an employee who has been fully committed to work, despite the hurdles. This employee has a high potential in any organization, which is critical to organizational success.

These new year's awards can help your employees receive encouragement and appreciation to reach their potential. 

How to make New Year more fun with Empuls? 

Following are the aspects that can turn your new year more fun. 

1. New Year awards & recognition ceremony (virtual/in-person) 

What to do: Host an annual awards ceremony recognizing achievements with fun and meaningful titles (e.g., Rockstar Employee, The Motivator, WFH Hall of Famer). 

Empuls advantage:

• Configure award types (jury, nomination-based, peer-to-peer). 
• Automate recognition workflows, voting, and approvals. 
• Publish results on the social intranet wall and public wall of fame​​. 
• Include custom digital certificates and shareable graphics. 

2. Festive gifting & rewards distribution 

What to do: Surprise employees with thoughtful, personalized New Year gifts. 

Empuls advantage:

• Use automated gifting workflows for personal and professional milestones. 
• Access a 1M+ item global rewards catalog:  
• Gift cards (local/international) 
• Curated experiences (spa, gourmet dining, adventure) 
• Merchandise (Amazon, custom swag) 
• Charitable donations 
• Wellness & fitness subscriptions​​ 
• Tailor gifts by department, region, or seniority. 
• Enable "Earn & Burn" rewards model with points for gamified participation. 

3. CEO message & personal touches 

What to do: Send personalized New Year wishes from leadership to each employee. 

Empuls advantage:

• Use Em, the AI assistant, to schedule and deliver messages. 
• Automate greetings with digital wishboards for birthdays, anniversaries, and festive greetings​​. 
• Encourage leaders to record or write short appreciation notes delivered platform wide. 

4. Fun awards & virtual celebrations 

What to do: Include 25+ fun titles like Best Dressed, Social Butterfly, Team Spirit Award in the celebration. 

Empuls advantage:

• Run polls and nominations on the Empuls intranet. 
• Display awardees in interactive, GIF-filled posts and comments sections. 
• Integrate rewards instantly via digital gift cards or badges. 

5. Festive perks & holiday bonuses 

What to do: Offer savings and fringe benefits to help employees stretch their wallets. 

Empuls advantage:

• Provide discounted gift cards and cashback on 6000+ brands (electronics, dining, travel, etc.)​. 
• Enable tax-saving benefits like fuel, telecom, books, meals via multi-wallet cards​. 
• Use Lifestyle Spending Accounts to personalize benefits (wellness, learning, childcare, remote work setup). 

New Year R&R campaign plan with Empuls 

Lost how to create a R&R campaign plan with Empuls? Here is a step-by-step guide. 

1. Campaign objective 

To recognize and reward employees for their contributions over the past year, reinforce core values, and kickstart the new year with energy, appreciation, and engagement. 

2. Campaign timeline 

Following is the phases in which you can set up the campaign:

Core award set up in Empuls 

Set up the core awards in Empuls in the following way: 

1. Award categories (Set up in Empuls) 

Configure awards in Empuls as: 

• Nomination-based (Team Spirit, Rockstar Employee) 
• Peer-to-peer (Positive Attitude, Supportive Colleague) 
• Milestone-based (Service Anniversaries) 
• Jury-based (Best Innovator, Leadership in Action) 

2. Reward options 

Use Empuls' 1M+ global rewards catalog to let winners choose: 

• Digital gift cards (Amazon, Uber, local retailers) 
• Unique experiences (spa day, adventure activity, fine dining) 
• Personalized swag (branded mugs, jackets, bags) 
• Charitable giving options 
• Travel or entertainment packages 

3. Social recognition 

• Post awards on the Empuls social feed 
• Use the Wishboard to gather messages for winners 
• Highlight CEO or leadership shoutouts 
• Create celebratory GIFs and badges for sharing

4. AI-powered features (via Em) 

• Smart nudges to managers to nominate or recognize team members 
• Weekly achievement summaries nudging managers to reward 
• Track recognition gaps to ensure inclusive acknowledgment 

5. Analytics & reporting 

Track: 

• Total participation 
• Award nominations vs wins 
• Redemption rates 
• Department-wise engagement 

Implementation checklist in Empuls 

We don’t want you to forget things. That is why follow the checklist: 

• Set up award workflows (jury, nomination, peer-to-peer) 
• Create reward collections by country & category 
• Schedule automation for greetings, reminders, and wishes 
• Design branded certificates and celebration visuals 
• Enable wall of fame and recognition feeds 
• Test preview of reward flow & messaging 
• Communicate the plan via Social Intranet & emails  

Key takeaway 

Rewards and recognition are important in strengthening your company’s culture, increasing employee engagement, and retaining your best employees. 

At this new year corporate event, showcase your appreciation towards your dedicated workforce and recognize their efforts with relevant new year awards and rewards. 

But it’s important you have the support of a holistic employee engagement tool to recognize, reward, and connect with your workforce this new year. 

Try out the free demo of the all-in-one employee engagement platform to unlock the true potential of your employees this holiday season. 

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