8 Best Award Names for Employees
Exploring creative alternatives to the traditional “Employee of the Month,” we’ve gathered insights from various leaders, including a community manager and a CTO, to share their unique employee award titles. From the MVP Award that highlights exceptional effort to the Charter Champion Award that celebrates a collaborative spirit, discover nine innovative ways companies are recognizing their standout employees.
- MVP Award Highlights Exceptional Effort
- Merit Award for Deserving Individuals
- Innovation Champion Celebrates Creativity
- Talent Trail Blazers Earn Peer Recognition
- Innovator of the Quarter Encourages Creativity
- Bright Idea Champion Honors Creativity
- Stellar Performers Award Inspires Excellence
- Charter Champion Award for Collaborative Spirit
MVP Award Highlights Exceptional Effort
My company has the MVP Award (Most Valued Person) for recognizing the best employee. While teams collectively work toward success, the MVP Award highlights an individual’s exceptional efforts.
The term MVP is concise, clear, and widely understood, making it easy for employees to grasp the award’s significance. It has a universal appeal, transcending language and cultural barriers. Also, MVP is often associated with sports, which signifies the player whose contributions significantly impact the team’s success (Most Valued Player). Similarly, in a workplace context, the MVP Award goes to an employee whose efforts positively affect the company’s achievements.
Agata Szczepanek
Community Manager, MyPerfectResume
Merit Award for Deserving Individuals
In our company, an award called The Merit Award is usually handed over to a truly deserving individual, sometimes individuals, depending on the number of people who are outstanding, excellent, high-quality, and of great talent in their field at the time of the award. The most important thing is, the employee(s) has to deserve it.
Grace Chisom
Marketing Manager, Check CPS
Innovation Champion Celebrates Creativity
In our team, beyond recognizing an Employee of the Month, we have a distinctive honor known as the Innovation Champion Award. This is a recognition close to my heart, as it is bestowed upon individuals who consistently showcase a creative and forward-thinking mindset in their work, contributing significantly to innovative solutions and advancements within our company.
I’ve witnessed how this award celebrates those who go above and beyond their routine tasks, bringing fresh ideas and inventive strategies that positively impact our team and overarching business objectives. I truly appreciate how this personalized form of recognition fosters a culture of continuous improvement and creativity among us.
Leonidas Sfyris
CTO, Need A Fixer
Talent Trail Blazers Earn Peer Recognition
Rather than defaulting to superficial Employee of the Month awards, we spotlight standout recruits as our Talent Trailblazers. More than just recognizing individual contributors, the Talent Trailblazer distinction honors team players catalyzing our collective success. Recipients are nominated and selected by peer consensus, not top-down mandates, lending the accolade authentic peer endorsement.
Winners embody our cultural values like creativity in sourcing niche skill sets, courage to challenge the status quo, and community-building to maximize colleague growth. Through public praise channeled virally over social media, Talent Trail Blazers become celebrity ambassadors for our employer brand. Their stories inspire both future aspirants in our talent pipeline as well as incumbent teammates to raise the collaborative bar.
Lou Reverchuk
Co-Founder and CEO, EchoGlobal
Innovator of the Quarter Encourages Creativity
At our company, we celebrate the Innovator of the Quarter award. This recognition spotlights employees who bring fresh ideas and creative solutions to the table.
The award aims to foster a culture of innovation. It motivates our team to think outside the box and contribute to our company’s growth. It serves as a powerful morale booster, showing employees that their unique contributions are valued.
The recipient not only receives acknowledgment but also gains a sense of pride and accomplishment. It contributes positively to the overall work environment and pushes our employees to be more creative.
Perry Zheng
Founder and CEO, Pallas
Bright Idea Champion Honors Creativity
Besides the traditional Employee of the Month award, Festoon House also recognizes team members with the Bright Idea Champion award, which honors their outstanding creativity or novel solutions that make a substantial contribution to the expansion and advancement of our business.
Our team wants to encourage a culture of innovation and idea sharing, which is why we created the Bright Idea Champion award. It’s not only about the result; it’s also about the process: recognizing those who demonstrate creative problem-solving abilities, innovative thinking, and a proactive attitude toward improving our goods, services, or internal procedures.
This award encourages staff members to think creatively and implement ideas that have a beneficial impact on our company and industry, going above and beyond the call of duty. Acknowledging and applauding creative thinking has proven to be a powerful motivator for our team members, promoting ongoing development and a positive outlook.
Matt Little
Owner, Festoon House
Stellar Performers Award Inspires Excellence
We believe in rewarding excellent individuals who continuously go above and beyond. That is why the Stellar Performers Award is one of our most distinguished staff honors. Individuals who continuously provide extraordinary outcomes, display exceptional dedication, and inspire others with their remarkable achievements are honored with this award.
We hope that by recognizing these shining stars, we can excite and inspire the entire team to strive for excellence. Together, we can foster a high-performance culture and recognize our employees’ outstanding efforts.
John Hughes
CEO and President, ElectricianShield
Charter Champion Award for Collaborative Spirit
The Charter Champion Award is a quarterly competition and is based on choosing the employee who most lives and represents our Project Charter. It is a nomination process done by peers. Each employee nominates a colleague who best exemplifies and embodies our key behaviors of collaboration and a delivery mindset.
Inas Fanous
Employee Experience and Recognition Specialist, Onxpress Transportation Partners
Submit Your Answer
Would you like to submit an alternate answer to the question, “Besides “Employee of the Month,” what’s one name you have at your company for an employee award?”
