by Brian Clegg

People like to be rewarded for doing something special - and creativity is always going to be something special, even if you manage to get everyone in your organization working more creatively.

Everyday creativity should be clearly and explicitly part of your normal reward package - but you do also need a way to reward exceptional creativity. You could give a staff member a bonus - but remember you should be expecting to give these to many staff, so you can't be too generous. Say you have £100 ($150) to play with. As a bonus, compared with an annual salary it's hardly meaningful. But give them a present instead to the same value and suddenly it's something very worthwhile, because it's unusual to regularly spend this sort of money on yourself for a casual purchase.

Here are the best suggestions we have found for creative rewards. Most of the examples below are UK-based, but you should be able to find similar suppliers on the Web wherever you are based.

Give them a Mystery Murder mystery events are great fun, and effectively combine team building and a reward. Our murder mystery site has information on choosing a DIY murder mystery if budgets are tight (from as little as £8.99), and on pushing the boat out on an organized mystery event.

An experience! Ignore the name of this company - its ideas make superb creative rewards from taking part in a circus act to feeding tigers...

A supercar. Okay, maybe the budget won't run to a Ferarri, but you can give a chance of winning a supercar in a prize draw raffle (there are gift vouchers too, but we recommend entering the competition (it's one of those football, spot-the-ball things) for them, as that way they don't have to do anything) with a high enough chance of winning to make it worth entering for under £100. Click the Best of the Best banner for details:

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An adventure.  if you're relatively near Swindon (UK), try these direct link for either microlight flights or skydiving at even better rates.

A star. Not the Hollywood variety but a real star in the sky that can be named after your person to be rewarded. What better way to say 'you're a star'? Click below for details:

An aerial photograph. There are more and more opportunities from simple photographs to gifts with the photograph built in. Click here for details:

... but whatever you choose, make it timely and make it fun.

Copyright © Creativity Unleashed Limited 2006
Last update 12 May 2006