Add This Creative Spin to Your Next Employee Award Contest

The North American division of HSBC, a London-based bank, does a neat twist on its annual awards contest — employees are asked what they would like to receive should they win. The prize value is capped at $10,000, and it cannot be redeemed as cash. “You can imagine the impact these personalized prizes have on HSBC employees,” writes Marcus Buckingham in The One Thing You Need To Know. “It’s one thing to be brought up on stage and given yet another plaque. It’s another when you receive a college tuition fund for your child, or the Harley-Davidson motorcycle you’ve always dreamed of, or—the prize everyone at the company still talks about—the airline tickets to fly you and your family back to Mexico to visit the grandmother you haven’t seen in 10 years.” Could you offer a scaled-down version of such a prize?