With workplace budgets still tight, recession-weary employees need a morale booster now more than ever. It's time to use a little creativity to reward workers—without breaking the bank.

Employees are often the best sources of ideas because they are closest to the daily details of the organization. But too often, employees are sitting on great cost-saving, business-generating ideas because they’ve never been specifically asked. Here are five strategies to help encourage input from employees.

In an industry that suffers from 100% annual turnover, Universal Protection Service in Santa Ana, Calif., boasts a much lower rate: 65%. “Anyone in HR will be aghast at that rate because it sounds horrendous,” admits HR VP Paula Malone, “but compared with the industry average, it’s actually good.” The reasons for the relatively low turnover: continuous training and on-the-spot recognition.

Employees who celebrate 10 years with Kansas City, Mo.-based Lockton Cos. get a big thank-you from company brass: a Rolex watch. The insurance broker gave away more than 60 of the high-end watches in 2009, according to Communications Director Dean Davison.

Business and vacation travel may be down, but American Airlines says customer satisfaction is up—and is rewarding about 71,000 employees for making it happen. The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline awarded $10.6 million—about $150 per employee—to staffers who helped the organization achieve its fourth-quarter 2009 customer satisfaction goals.

Nothing takes the shine off an employee achievement award faster than having to pay taxes on its value. However, it’s entirely possible to design a recognition program that doesn’t cause tax liability for your employees—and is fully tax deductible for your organization.

Nothing takes the shine off an employee achievement award faster than having to pay taxes on its value. The IRS is on the lookout for awards that really amount to bonuses, but it’s entirely possible to design a recognition program that doesn’t cause tax liability for your employees—and is fully tax deductible for your organization.

Here's a round-up of HR advice to heed as the holidays roll around. Click on the links below for answers to holiday questions posed by our readers, as well as a slew of tips to keep things festive without finding a subpeona in your stocking:

Q. I started a business a few years ago, but this is the first year that I actually have an office with employees. I would like to give them holiday bonuses this year. What are the legal guidelines I should follow?

You might think that recognition is about the rewards you give employees for long years of service or for retiring after a notable career. It’s really not. Recognition is about employee engagement. And employee engagement starts with employer engagement. How you treat people today is going to determine whether your valued employees stay with you when the financial crisis is over.

An Arizona technician lost 100 pounds in a weight-loss competition to snag the grand prize: his first skydive. Read about that and other employee wellness initiatives from across the country. They're keeping employees healthy, and helping employers keep health benefits costs down.

As the year wraps up, your employees could be feeling a double dose of stress from the lingering recession and the upcoming holidays—and both are likely to keep at least some otherwise-reliable employees home from work. As the holidays approach, HR pros can take steps to boost morale and jump-start employee engagement.

As hard as this recession has been on everyone, it has forced organizations to look at how to spend compensation budgets more efficiently and more effectively. What has shaken out is a new system of pay raises and bonuses that rewards employees for doing top-notch work rather than for simply showing up for work. Here are five lessons compensation pros have learned during these hard times:

With benefits election open-enrollment season looming at organizations across the country, here are 10 ways you can do a better job of communicating with your organization’s employees. None of them costs a fortune. All can help increase employee participation in your benefits program.

While you may not have been partying much at the office lately, some employers see summer as an ideal time for an all-staff get-together. Instead of spending a lot on flowers and glassware rentals, get creative with these summertime themes.