Rewards
Employee reward ideas
A ready-to-paste starter catalogue of 8 rewards, 27 ideas in total, and how to price each one in Kudos — so you can fill an empty rewards list in about ten minutes.
The hardest part of setting up rewards isn't the software — it's the blank catalogue. This page gives you eight rewards you can paste straight into Asante Bot to launch with, 27 ideas in total to grow into, and a way to work out what each one should cost in Kudos.
A good catalogue is about six to ten rewards at different price points, refreshed once a quarter. You do not need all 27.
Start with these eight
If you want to be done in ten minutes, create these. They cover every price rung, they use each of the reward settings at least once, and between them they suit most teams.
The text below is a template — edit anything in [square brackets] before you save. Description is what everyone sees in the rewards list; After redeeming is the text that appears once a claim is approved, so it's where the actual instructions go.
1. Coffee on us
- Description — A coffee, on the company. Claim it whenever you need a good flat white more than you need points.
- After redeeming — Send
[@admin]a message with your coffee shop of choice and we'll send the card over within[two working days]. - Rung Everyday · Settings Redeem multiple times per user
2. Digital gift card
- Description — A
[amount]gift card for[Amazon / Steam / a local shop]. The reliable one when you'd rather pick your own thing. - After redeeming — We'll email your code to your work address within
[two working days]. - Rung Everyday · Settings Redeem multiple times per user
3. The good company swag
- Description — The proper hoodie, not the leftover conference tote. Pick your size and colour.
- After redeeming — Reply with your size and postal address and we'll ship it out on the next order run.
- Rung Everyday
4. A month of streaming
- Description — A month of
[Netflix / Spotify / a game pass], on us. Renewable whenever you've saved up again. - After redeeming — Tell us which service you want and we'll send a gift subscription code.
- Rung Save-up · Settings Redeem multiple times per user
5. Late start or early finish
- Description — Start at
[11am]or knock off at[3pm]on a day of your choosing. No explanation required. - After redeeming — Agree the day with your manager, drop it in the team calendar, and enjoy it.
- Rung Save-up · Settings Redeem multiple times per user
6. A proper shout-out
- Description — Your work, called out by name at the next all-hands — with specifics, not a generic thank-you.
- After redeeming — Tell us what you'd like credited and we'll make sure it's said properly at the next
[all-hands]. - Rung Everyday
7. An extra paid day off
- Description — One extra paid day off, yours to book like any other. The one most people save for.
- After redeeming — Book it as normal in
[your HR system]and note that it's a Kudos day so it doesn't come off your allowance. - Rung Aspirational · Settings Quantity, to cap how many go out per quarter
8. Team lunch (everyone chips in)
- Description — A lunch for the whole team, funded together. Everyone contributes Kudos; everyone eats.
- After redeeming — Once the goal is reached we'll set a budget of
[amount]and one of you can book somewhere and organize it. - Rung Aspirational · Settings Enable reward crowdfunding
Once those are live and people are redeeming, the fun addition is a hidden reward — one nobody can see until they've earned enough to claim it. See Hidden rewards explanation.
How to price them
Before you finalize prices, decide what a Kudos Point is worth. The most common mistake is a catalogue where everything costs roughly the same — people save up once, redeem, and lose interest.
A rough starting point: multiply your daily Kudos limit by the number of people on your team, then by about 20 working days, and assume people give away around half of what they're allowed. That's roughly how many points enter circulation each month.
From there, aim for three rungs:
| Rung | Roughly how long to earn | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday | A week or two | Keeps the habit alive between the big ones |
| Save-up | About a month | The reward most people actually target |
| Aspirational | A quarter or more | Gives the catalogue a ceiling worth climbing toward |
Calibrate after a month of real data rather than agonizing up front — you can edit any price at any time. See How to adjust the daily Kudos limit if points are moving too slowly or too fast, and How do I create rewards? for every field on the reward form.
More ideas by category
When you're ready to expand past the starter eight, here's the full list. For rewards that cost nothing at all, we also keep a list of employee recognition ideas that don't cost any money.
Small and frequent
The bottom rung. These keep people redeeming instead of hoarding, so price them low and let people claim them more than once.
- Digital gift card — Amazon, Steam, or a local shop. The default when you're not sure what someone wants.
- Streaming subscription — a month or three of Netflix, Spotify, Apple TV, or a game pass.
- Coffee or lunch on the company — small, immediate, and surprisingly popular.
- Company swag — the good hoodie, not the leftover conference tote.
- Front-row parking spot — yours for a week. Costs nothing and gets noticed daily.
- Gym or wellness membership — a few months of a gym, climbing wall, or yoga studio.
Setting to use: turn on Redeem multiple times per user so someone can claim the same small reward again next month.
Time and flexibility
Consistently the most-wanted category, and the one that costs no budget line — only planning.
- An extra paid day off — the single most requested reward on most teams.
- Late start or early finish — a lighter version of the above, for a lower price.
- Passion pass — a paid day to work on something they care about, related to the job or not.
- Work from anywhere week — a week of working from another city, or just the couch.
Setting to use: set a Quantity so you cap how many days off go out in a quarter. The default is 1, which quietly makes a reward one-of-a-kind.
Experiences
Memorable, and they give people something to talk about in the channel afterward — which does more for the recognition habit than the reward itself.
- Spa day — a proper afternoon off, not a voucher that expires unused.
- Two concert or match tickets — always two, so they can bring someone.
- Adventure day — rafting, karting, climbing, escape room; whatever your area does well.
- Karaoke night — this can go badly, which is the point.
- Cooking or craft class — pottery, pasta, cocktails. Popular with people who don't want a spa day.
Access, visibility and growth
These are intangible rewards — they cost almost nothing and often land harder than the ones you pay for, because they signal status rather than spend.
- Board game or coffee with the CEO — an hour of chess and unfiltered questions.
- Pitch night slot — time in front of leadership to pitch an idea, with a real budget decision at the end.
- Job swap for a day — trade roles with a teammate they choose.
- Shadow another team — a day with design, sales, or support to see how the other half works.
- Employee of the Month — the old-fashioned photo on the wall with a personal note. Still works.
- A real shout-out — a proper thank-you at the all-hands, by name, with specifics.
Team rewards everyone chips in for
Some rewards are too big for one person's balance — so let the whole team pool points toward them.
- Team offsite — the classic pooled goal, and a good top rung for the catalogue.
- Group lunch — one person collects the budget and organizes lunch for everybody.
- Donation to a charity they choose — the team funds it together and picks the cause.
- Something for the team space — a coffee machine, a console, better chairs.
Setting to use: tick Enable reward crowdfunding when you create these. Teammates then hit Contribute and choose how many Kudos to put in, and everyone gets redemption instructions once the goal is reached. See How to create a Team Reward.
High-value and surprise
- Cash bonus — perfectly allowed, and sometimes exactly right. Pay it out through your normal payroll process; Asante Bot tracks the redemption, not the money.
- Mystery box — the reward nobody can see the contents of, tailored per person.
Setting to use: tick Hide reward to keep a reward out of the list until someone has enough Kudos to claim it. It turns an expensive reward into a genuine surprise.
Common questions
How many rewards should I start with?
Six to ten. Fewer than six and the catalogue looks empty; more than about a dozen and people stop reading. The eight above are deliberately a complete starter set.
What should a reward actually cost in Kudos?
There's no universal number, because it depends on your daily Kudos limit and headcount. Use the circulation estimate above to set three rungs, then adjust after a month of real redemptions.
Nobody is redeeming anything. What's wrong?
Almost always one of two things: prices are too high, or the catalogue has nothing people want. Check your reward redemption rate, then either drop your entry-level price or ask the team directly what they'd actually claim.
Someone cleared out the catalogue in a week. Now what?
Your prices are too low relative to how fast points circulate. Raise the top rung rather than the bottom one — you want the everyday rewards to stay easy, and the aspirational one to stay genuinely hard.
Should I include a cash reward?
You can, and for some teams it's the right call. Pay it through your normal payroll process — Asante Bot records the redemption, not the payment.
Can someone claim the same reward twice?
Only if you tick Redeem multiple times per user on that reward. Turn it on for the small, repeatable ones and leave it off for anything one-of-a-kind.
How often should I refresh the list?
Once a quarter is plenty. Retire whatever nobody claimed, keep what moved, and add one new aspirational reward so there's always something to climb toward.
Who approves a redemption?
A workspace admin. The claimant's balance is deducted straight away and the request lands with an admin to approve or reject, so nothing goes out without a person signing off.
After you add them
Only Team Admins can create rewards — see Who creates rewards? if you're not sure whether that's you.
For the full redemption flow — what the claimant sees, what lands with the admin, and the email that goes out — see What happens when someone redeems a reward?.