50 Funny Employee Awards for Work Your Team Will Love

Funny employee awards work because everyone already knows who deserves them. There is the colleague who still hits reply all, the one who can find a biscuit in a locked room, and the one who gets the whole team through a bad Monday. The list below has 50 awards, and a few of them will make you think of one particular person straight away.

They suit an end-of-year party, an away day or an employee appreciation day. Pick five to ten, add a few of your own and let people vote. These funny office awards come with a free printable certificate at the end of the page. If the awards are part of an away day, we also have team social ideas in London and team days out in Manchester.

Our favourite funny employee awards

The Unicorn Award 🦄

For the colleague with a ridiculous number of talents. Whatever the problem, they somehow have the skills to solve it. A genuinely rare find.

The Keep Calm and Be Susan Award

Every office has a Susan (or a Dave, or a Priya). The person who stays calm when everything is going wrong and somehow sorts it all out.

The Social Glue Award

Remembers everyone’s birthday, organises the leaving cards and keeps the team together. Without them, nobody would get cake.

The MacGyver Award

Can fix almost anything with very little time, money or equipment. Their resourcefulness knows no bounds.

The Could Have Been an Email Award

For the colleague who keeps meetings short, gets to the point and gives everyone an hour of their lives back.

The Human Intranet Award

Knows absolutely everything about the organisation. Who does what, where things are, and why that policy changed in 2017. Much faster than searching SharePoint.

The Corporate Nonsense Translator Award

Can turn 45 minutes of corporate jargon into one sentence that everybody understands.

The Office Fashionista Award

Always impeccably dressed, even on dress-down Fridays. Somehow makes the rest of us look like we’ve just rolled out of bed.

The Office Alchy Award

For the colleague most likely to ask, “Is it time for a gin and tonic yet?” at approximately 3pm. Has been looking forward to Friday since Monday.

The Patience of a Saint Award

For the colleague who deals with the most difficult customers without ever losing their cool. We genuinely don’t know how they do it.

The Laptop Whisperer Award

For the colleague who can fix almost any computer problem. Often just by turning it off and on again.

The Diplomatic Immunity Award

Can tell the boss their idea is terrible without causing offence. A remarkable talent.

The PowerPoint Exorcist Award

Can rescue the most dreadful presentation and make it look professional. Particularly good at removing unnecessary slides.

The Best Supporting Actor Award

For the colleague who works quietly behind the scenes, making everyone else look good.

The Plot Twist Award

Just when everyone agrees something is impossible, this person comes up with an idea that actually works.

The Chief Snack Officer Award

Always has snacks. Knows where the good biscuits are hidden. Widely regarded as essential to team morale.

Funny office awards

Meetings and email

• The Reply All Champion Award: Has sent “thanks” to the entire company. More than once.
• The “You’re on Mute” Award: Has delivered several excellent points to a muted microphone and will do it again on Thursday.
• The Out of Office Legend Award: Writes the most creative out-of-office message in the business. People email them on holiday just to read it.

The kitchen

• The Tea Round Champion Award: Always offers to make a round and remembers how everyone takes it, including the person who switched to oat milk in March.
• The Fridge Detective Award: Knows whose lunch is whose and who finished the milk. Has never been wrong.
• The Mug Collector Award: Has more mugs on their desk than the kitchen has in its cupboard. Nobody can find a clean one.

Office habits

• The Plant Whisperer Award: The reason the office plants are still alive. Also the reason the one on your desk is, despite you.
• The Loud Keyboard Award: You can hear every email they write from the other side of the office.
• The Busy Calendar Award: Has not had a free slot since 2019. Booking time with them takes three weeks and a favour.
• The Hidden Talent Award: Turns out to sing, play the cello or bake like a professional. Nobody had any idea until the away day.
• The Meme Lord Award: Has the right GIF for every moment in the team chat, delivered within seconds.

Funny awards for different teams and departments

Funny employee awards for work land best when they match what each team does all day.

Sales

• The Pipeline Optimist Award: Every deal will close next week. It has said so since spring.
• The Just Checking In Award: Writes the politest follow-up emails in the company. The fourth one is as warm as the first.

HR and people teams

• The Survey Champion Award: Got the engagement survey response rate higher than anyone thought possible, mostly by asking nicely in the kitchen.
• The Holiday Calendar Keeper Award: Knows who is off, when, and why the second week of August is already full.

Finance

• The Receipts Please Award: Will find you if your expenses are missing a receipt. They always find you.
• The Month-End Survivor Award: Emerges from the last week of every month grey, quiet and accurate to the penny.

Customer service and frontline

• The Five-Star Review Magnet Award: Customers mention them by name in reviews, including the ones who came in to complain.
• The Shift Swap Saviour Award: Says yes to the shift everyone else has been avoiding and never brings it up afterwards.
• The Night Shift Legend Award: Keeps everything running while the rest of us are asleep and leaves tidy handover notes.

Managers

• The Umbrella Award: Takes the flak from upstairs so the team can get on with their work.
• The Best Pep Talk Award: Can make a Monday morning target sound achievable and leave you slightly motivated against your will.

Funny remote and hybrid working awards

Funny workplace awards do not need a room. Read these out on a video call and post the certificates as a PDF or in the post.

• The Frozen Screen Award: Their video always freezes on the funniest possible face, mid-sentence.
• The Office Day Hero Award: Comes in on the one day nobody else does and still says it was lovely and quiet.
• The Guest Star Award: Their cat walks across the keyboard in every important meeting and gets more attention than the agenda.

Funny Christmas party awards

A short awards slot works well before the music starts. For more ideas, see our Christmas party ideas for work and our guide to the office Christmas party. Running a gift swap too? Our free Secret Santa questionnaire helps everyone buy a gift people will like.

• The Secret Santa Mastermind Award: Runs the draw, chases the budget and somehow keeps the whole thing secret.
• The Best Christmas Jumper Award: Starts wearing it in November and owns a second one that lights up.
• The Dance Floor Opener Award: First on the dance floor every time, which is the only reason anyone else follows.
• The Tinsel Wrangler Award: Puts the decorations up every year and is the only person who knows which box the lights are in.

“Most likely to” workplace awards

These are quick to vote on. Share the list and let everyone choose.

• Most likely to reply within a minute: even at 4.55pm on a Friday.
• Most likely to have a spare phone charger: and to lend it to you without a fuss.
• Most likely to volunteer first: for anything, sometimes before the question has finished.
• Most likely to start a WhatsApp group: there is one for every project and several are still running.
• Most likely to suggest a walking meeting: whatever the weather.

How to choose funny employee awards without offending anyone

• Celebrate something the person is proud of, and ask them quietly first if you are unsure.
• Keep clear of appearance, weight, age, health, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion and personal life.
• Leave out mistakes unless the person already jokes about them.
• In a small team, everyone gets an award or nobody does. Leaving one person out is noticed.
• Read each one out loud first. If it sounds like a dig, change it.
• The Office Alchy Award suits some teams better than others, so skip it where drinking is not part of the culture.

Keep the shortlist short and let colleagues vote with a Teams or Slack poll. Ten to 15 minutes is plenty, and remote colleagues should be on a video call so they can hear their own name. If nobody wants to host, the comedy and performance hosts in our Something Different directory can run it. Teams planning a bigger celebration can also browse Something Different, our directory of unusual team experiences, and employee gifting suppliers can help with prizes.

Where funny awards fit in recognition

Funny awards work best alongside everyday thanks. A gratitude wall or a short thank-you message to a coworker lets people say what a colleague did and why it helped, all year round. Our conversation with Workhuman’s KeyAnna Schmiedl looks at what recognition data can tell you about your people, and we have also written about how HR teams can turn recognition into a driver of trust, retention and performance. If the awards are part of a team day, our team building games for work pair well with them.

Free printable employee award certificate

Download the free funny employee award certificate (PDF). It is A4 landscape. Type the winner’s name, the award and the reason straight into the PDF, or print it and write them by hand. Print it on card for a better finish.

A certificate and a small prize are enough. A mug for the Tea Round Champion or a plant for the Plant Whisperer costs very little and people keep them.

Funny employee awards FAQs

What are funny employee awards?

They are light-hearted awards that celebrate the quirks and strengths people bring to work, such as running the best tea round or rescuing every presentation. The best ones make people laugh and feel noticed.

How many funny awards should we give out?

In a small team, give everyone one. In a big team, pick five to ten and let people vote, so the ceremony stays short.

How do you give funny awards without offending anyone?

Celebrate something the person is proud of, avoid anything personal and read each award out loud first. If it sounds like a dig, change it.

What prizes go with funny employee awards?

A certificate and a small prize are plenty. A mug, a plant, a box of biscuits or a voucher for lunch all work.

Can you run funny awards for a remote team?

Yes. Read them out on a video call, vote with a poll in Teams or Slack, and send the certificate as a PDF or in the post.