Employees want to feel valued for the work they do and the contrubutions they make. Rewarding that employee with honest communication for that great work is wonderful but it doesn't hurt to go a bit further from time to time. Lunch for the whole team for working hard to get a project completed, staff appreciation dinners, or BBQ's. At our company, the employees appreciate and look forward to the surprise donut and coffee/tea days, pizza days and food truck lunches.