Creativity and individuality are among the most important things employers are looking for when recruiting new talent. Even the smallest things can make an enormous impact on the overall culture and attitude of a business, right down to the details on employee name tags. Incorporating creative, fun, and exciting details on name tags for your employees will create a less strict atmosphere where employees can express themselves. Anything you can do that makes your company culture stand out will make customers more likely to choose you over your competitors.
Creative name tags…..
- allow employees to express themselves in a unique way
- boost overall performance
- create a more accepting environment to work in
- inspire innovative thinking
- unlock the door for exciting & creative contests and prizes
Creative Name Tags Allow Employees to Express Themselves
Self-expression allows people to fully be themselves, and lets their unique talents thrive. Younger employees often feel they’re being put into boxes of how to act, dress, talk, and work. Every business has rules and safety measures to create orderliness, but there are ways to let each employee’s individuality shine. Name tags are an incredible way to help your employees or community members express themselves in whatever way they feel.
Allowing employees to add a creative or unique quote or characteristic to their name tag can boost their performance.
Name tags serve a deeper purpose than just communicating a name. Name tags have the power to unlock a part of your team members that customers wouldn’t otherwise know. Unique name tags can represent who each person is such as their interests and values.
For example, if you own a small business that sells board shorts and sunglasses, your employees will exemplify a love for the ocean when wearing a Beach Banner Shaped Name Tag. Customers notice small details, and a unique ocean themed badge communicates to your customers not only an employee’s name, but a strong support for the products you’re selling.
Name Tags are a Blank Canvas for Your Staff Members to Express Themselves
In most workplaces, employees are required to wear professional attire or a uniform. Although there are pros to this, as it adds a sense of orderliness to a workplace, it does remove the ability to express oneself with clothing.
Dependent on the type of industry you are in, self-expression is vital to morale and creativity. Name tags are a blank canvas for people to add their own expressions, quotes or experiences.
For example, if you own a flower shop, you could customize this wooden name badge with engraved flowers, and the name of each employee’s favorite flower. This could not only spark conversation between staff and customers, but could help a customer make a final purchase decision. No matter what type of name tag you currently have, even the simplest of name tags can be spruced up to include an interest or passion.
How Companies are Making their Employees Stand Out
A company that really accomplishes this well is the founder of the chicken biscuit, Chick-Fil-A. If you go into any Chick-Fil-A location, you will immediately be greeted by an employee with the most genuine smile, and a unique name tag that displays his or her dream occupation. When you learn that your local Chick-Fil-A employee wants to be an astronaut or a doctor when they are older, you instantly feel more connected to him or her. This is the power of the name tag!
Name tags give you a glimpse into who a person truly is outside of their day to day duties. It is with this that we can start to build stronger connections between people who work together, and between customers and employees.
Create a Less Strict and More Accepting Creative Environment
Younger job seekers are often looking to work for companies that foster free expression and open thought.
Harvard Business Review said in their article, Creating the Best Workplace on Earth, that you must “let people be themselves” to create the ideal workplace. If you are trying to create a more accepting and creative work environment, it is necessary to allow employees to be themselves. Personalized and creative name tags are a small, but impactful step in the right direction!
Allowing openness and expression makes staff members more comfortable being a part of a working community, and can initiate improved relationships between employees and customers. Your staff members and the customer experience they provide is the first and most lasting interaction the public has with your brand. The right name tags can inspire thoughtful and memorable communication.
This kind of communication and expression has also proven to boost morale and make employees happier in their jobs. Name tags can give your staff a platform and a voice!
Name Tags Can Inspire More Innovative Thinking & Creativity at Work
People are truly the product of their environments. If your employees or community members are surrounded by creativity, they’re likely to feel an intrinsic push to match that creative thinking in their own work. This sense of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking will spread to every part of your business! You will see your company as a whole become a hub of creative energy and innovative ideas that put you miles ahead of your competition.
Creative Ideas for Name Tags
Themed Name Tags for the Season or Year
People are looking for freshness in their daily routines. We tend to get tired of the same old routine, uniform or style. We are constantly seeking new trends, new ways of doing things, and new ways of dressing – this includes name tags.
Companies can be innovative and allow this human need for freshness to inspire new name tags. Every year employee name tags can be updated, changed, or even re-styled, and each time you could allow employees to have input on the theme. It is important to show your employees that you care about them, and that you want to add a bit of excitement to the workplace.
Name Tag Design Contests
Contests provide a great opportunity to engage your staff and to foster creativity. A name tag contest will push people to think outside the box when it comes to stylizing a name tag design. Name tag contests could be the event that so many of your employees look forward to. Employees will want to work with their colleagues to think of different ideas and get creative to come up with the best name tag styles. Even if the prize is as simple as a gift card to a desired restaurant or a household item that anyone can use, people will be motivated to get involved.
Other Creative Ideas to Include on Name Tags
• Nicknames
• Favorite movie quotes
• Inspirational quotes
• Home town
• Hobbies or interests
• Aspiring career or life goal
Allowing people to express themselves with their name tags is one of the easiest ways to foster individuality in the workplace and create an inclusive atmosphere.
Think of everyone that represents your company, small business, or any other defined group as ambassadors of your brand. Hired for their knowledge and abilities to help your organization succeed, well-designed name tags will help these employees, volunteers, and others make their best first impression and inspire meaningful conversation between staff and guests.
Once you’re introduced to someone by name, you’re both more likely to feel an immediate level of comfort and approachability. And whether your business has a few employees, hundreds, or even thousands, personal interaction goes a long way toward making everyone feel that ‘We’re all on the same team!’ and are working together toward a common goal. For volunteers and other guests, 
Name tags offer a terrific way for new employees to quickly recognize others and their respective roles within the workplace. In addition to learning who fulfills which job, 
Welcome teachers back to the classroom by hosting a ‘Back to School’ breakfast. If you’ve got a gourmet doughnut and coffee shop nearby, an array of sweet treats and lattes are sure to be a delightful morning surprise. If you have access to a nearby kitchen, prepare a hot breakfast of Belgian waffles, bacon and eggs, and fresh fruit and juice to begin their busy day.
Between parent/teacher conferences or PTA meetings that are usually scheduled during weeknight evenings, provide a pot luck dinner for teachers at school, where they can relax together, share a hot meal, and be ready to continue their workday as the evening meetings get underway. They’re sure to appreciate a warm, homemade meal prepared especially for them.
As Thanksgiving draws near, November is the perfect time to provide your teachers with a pilgrim’s picnic for lunch. Whether you’re planning a traditional turkey feast with all the trimmings or creating a feast of your teachers’ mealtime favorites, this banquet is one they’re sure to be thankful for!
With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, make your teachers’ lives just a bit easier by ordering a week of free dinner deliveries. Whether a group of parents takes turns bringing a home cooked casserole or meal that teachers can take home and pop in the oven on a busy weeknight, or the class contributes funds to order a week of dinner deliveries from a local meal delivery service, a nutritious and delicious meal will be ready to heat, eat, and enjoy!
If your school is in an area that transforms into a blizzardy winter wonderland this time of year, grab your safety patrol team, warm winter coats, and a few snow brushes and head outside shortly before the afternoon bell to brush your teachers’ cars off. This thoughtful gesture is sure to ‘warm’ their hearts!
Create a movie night bucket for a fun filled at home film fest. When the weather outside is frightful, a bucket of movie night essentials is ‘just the ticket’! Fill a popcorn bowl with microwave popcorn (or a sampling of gourmet popcorn from a local popcorn shop), popular movie munchies, and perhaps a soda or two. Everything your teachers need to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
Welcome spring to your teachers’ classrooms with a bouquet of freshly picked flowers or a bushel of locally grown fruits and vegetables. A small bunch of wildflowers straight from your garden or a basket filled with freshly picked produce is a wonderful way to bring a bit of nature’s bounty to your child’s teachers.
As the school year begins to wind down, give your teachers a meaningful gift that highlights the impression they’ve made on every student they’ve taught throughout the year. Have the students each fill out a card that says ‘I love my teacher because…’ in their own handwriting (and spelling!), something they’re sure to treasure for years to come.
Just before summer vacation begins, give your teachers a gift that will remind them of the fun-filled happenings of the past year. Creating a class scrapbook is a perfect way to highlight special things that took place throughout the year, share favorite photos, or add handmade notes or artwork from each student. Handmade gifts are a meaningful, creative way to thank teachers for the unwavering enthusiasm and dedication they’ve given students all year long.
Imagine if everyone that crossed your path each day wore a name tag. Who would you meet? What kinds of stories or conversations would unfold? More days than not, we are more focused on the virtual people living inside our little blue screens rather than on the actual humans around us. We miss valuable opportunities to connect with others, share a few smiles, and perhaps meet someone who will change the trajectory of our lives in wonderful ways!