- The Wilson Learning Corp., which is based in Minnesota, gives a Mickey Mouse watch to each staff member after three months of employment as a reminder to have fun while working for the company. And on someone's 10th anniversary, that watch is replaced with a gold Mickey Mouse watch.
- Salespeople who excel or who close an important sale at Hewlett-Packard are sent pistachio nuts by its marketers.
- When Carl Buchan, founder of Lowe's Companies, died, his will specified that Lowe's employees - through a profit-sharing plan and trust - had the option of buying all his stock.
- Every employee in the New York and Hollywood offices of the Leo Burnett Co. received a first-class ticket to the agency's headquarters in Chicago to attend the annual breakfast when the company reached $1 billion in ad revenues.
- If you're the spouse of someone who works at Black & Decker, you get flowers on the employee's birthday as a thank-you for your support.
- At the Spaceborne plant of Odetics, everybody's picture is posted on a large calendar on his or her birthday.
- The president of Merle Norman Cosmetics keeps track of employees' birthdays and makes it a point to wish them well on that day.
- Employees who provide superior service at McDonald's can wear jewelry of the company's "golden arches" as an incentive for exemplary work.
- At D.D.B. Needham Worldwide, bottles of champagne are given to employees who go "beyond the call of duty" in developing an ad idea.
Source: "1001 Ways to Reward Employees."