With the season of giving still fresh in our minds, let's talk about rewarding our employees. When an employee deserves special recognition, there are many options. However, I'm constantly amazed by how many transactions I see between employers and employees that don't benefit either side. The employer gives something they consider really valuable, but the employee receiving it doesn't see its value. Neither party ends up happy. The best transactions are when you give something that doesn't cost you much but is of great value to the recipient.

Let's say you decide to give your neighbour the snow off your front lawn. Snow in Ottawa makes Christmas that much better, doesn't it? But your neighbour isn't likely to appreciate it considering they already have enough snow on their lawn to build a dozen snowmen. It's the Canadian equivalent to selling sand in the desert.

Techies: consider this real-life example. You believe the shares in your company could easily be worth 10 times as much in five years. These shares are valuable to you, but if you give them to an employee whose biggest priority is to pay bills and feed their family now then you probably aren't going to receive a big thank you. Even with the shares, you might find that employee asking for more. The increase in salary should have been your first choice. If you get to know your employees better, you will find out what kind of rewards engage them the most.

Money can't buy you love, but in business, money can do a lot of other things. Money is often the best way to motivate employees. You can pay them dividends, raise their salary, or offer bonuses for projects completed on time. However, money isn't the only way to spread cheer all year 'round. Here are a few non-monetary methods to add to your toolbox.

Give time off

Many employees would be happier with time in lieu of pay or extra vacation days. These employees may appreciate the time off to go skiing with the kids or to finish a basement renovation project. Studies have shown that employees can be more productive when they have had some time off. Maybe that's why the Spaniards invented their siesta! It's a well-known fact that afternoon naps energize and re-focus one's attention. In many European countries, employees get six weeks of paid vacation every year compared to our Canadian two or three weeks. Maybe one day Canadians companies will follow suit – when we're not afraid of appearing lazy. We might just have more energy to do our jobs.

Share company equipment

When I was at the bottom of the food chain, I couldn't afford more than the basic necessities, so I was relieved years ago when my boss let me use the office printer to print my wedding invitations. It was so nice to print the invitations for free at a time when so many wedding expenses loomed. Plus, it cost my boss next to nothing. Once in a while, I like to pass such favours forward and do similar things for my own employees – and they may be the ones mentioning it 22 years from now.

Along the same lines, if you have a company car for running office errands, then maybe you can lend it to junior employees who usually take the bus. You could leave them to brave OC Transpo and take six different connections, waiting for each one in the freezing cold, or you could pay the few dollars in gas and let them take your car there in 10 minutes. If they need to run the occasional personal errand that involves tricky bus routes, you'll free some time for them to get more work done, but again, they'll mention such little things to their friends for years.

Invest in new gadgets

You can take the lending approach a step further. Consider investing in special equipment to enhance projects, but which would be useful or fun for employees to use personally. Over the years, at my company, we've worked on a number of products for the automotive industry. So we've purchased laboratory equipment for automotive testing that we've needed during these projects. Our engineers can use this equipment to do work on their own cars as a side project, and it doesn't cost our company anything to let them experiment to their heart's content. Small gestures can really make the office or lab a more satisfying place to work.

Reward with new responsibilities

Some people are striving to move up in your company or add to their skills list. The best way to reward these employees is to give them new responsibilities. The feeling of contributing substantially to the company's overall success can really engage high performing employees to stick around.

The benefits of rewarding employees are numerous and diverse. But remember – just make sure to reward your employees with what is valuable to them. Feel free to e- mail me with your own ideas at Michael.Wakim@fidus.com.

Mike Wakim is the founder and CEO of Fidus Systems, an Ottawa-based electronic product development company. Fidus develops electronic products for a wide range of industries including aerospace, defence, consumer, medical, industrial, semiconductors and telecommunications.