Custom Employee of the Month Plaques
An employee of the month plaque does 2 jobs a trophy can't. It goes to the winner, and it stays on the wall where everybody else reads it every day for the rest of the year. That's why most monthly recognition programs incorporate a perpetual plaque rather than buying just 12 separate awards, and why the wall plaques usually outlast those who started it. You buy it once and add an engraved nameplate each month.
We make it easy on HR teams and office managers running a monthly program. Our employee of the month plaques allow plant and branch managers to display a board somewhere the whole shift walks past on the way in. The same plaques run quarterly and annual programs, safety records, and top-sales boards. Order as few as 1, and everything ships in 6 days.
Employee of the Month Perpetual Plaques
A perpetual plaque is one piece that stays in a shared space, with a new engraved plate added for each winner. By December, everyone who won that year is on it, and the plaque becomes a record anybody walking by can read. It's also the cheaper way to run a monthly program, because you buy it once and the plates are the only recurring cost.
An individual award goes home with the winner instead. Nothing about the two is exclusive, and most programs running a monthly award end up buying both.
Pairing a Wall Plaque with an Award the Winner Keeps
A wall plaque is a record, not a keepsake. The name goes up, and 11 months later there are 11 more names next to it. Programs that only run a wall plaque tend to find the recognition fades about as fast as the month does.
The fix is to pair it with something small the winner keeps at their desk or takes home. It sits in their eyeline long after the month is over, and it's the piece people still have years later when they've forgotten which hallway the plaque was on. The employee of the month awards range covers the desk trophies and smaller plaques built for exactly that, and the wall plaque and a year of keepsakes usually go on the same PO.
Employee of the Month Plaques with Photos
A name on a brass plate tells you somebody won. A face tells you who, which is the difference in a company where half the building works a different shift or a different floor.
Photo plaques hold a 4x6 of the current winner alongside the engraved plates, so the plaque shows this month's face and the running record at the same time. Swap the photo each month and the plate stays. It's the version that works best in lobbies and break rooms, where the people reading it don't all know each other by name.
How Many Nameplates a Perpetual Plaque Holds
A perpetual plaque holds a header area for the award name, then 2 or 3 columns of individual nameplates below it. A monthly program fills 12 plates a year, which is the number people forget when they're picking a size off a photo.
Sizes run from about 9 inches up to 30. A 12 inch plaque is fine for a year and full by the following January. If you want it to hold 3 years without being replaced, buy at 15 inches or larger. Plates are brass and mount 3 ways, screwed, magnetic, or permanently affixed, and the magnetic version is the one to ask for if you expect to reorganize the plates later.
Plaque Materials and Finishes
Most employee of the month plaques are wood, in black, rosewood, walnut, cherry, mahogany and bamboo finishes, with a few options in metal and acrylic. Wood is the default for a reason that has nothing to do with taste. These hang in a lobby or a hallway for years, and a wood plaque with brass plates still reads as deliberate in year 6 in a way most materials don't.
If your program needs the company logo in full color rather than engraved, full color plaques print rather than etch.
Free Engraving, Proofs and 6 Day Production
Engraving and personalization are free, the art proof is free, and nothing runs before you approve it. Non-vector logos get reformatted for $25, against a category norm closer to $75. Production is 6 days from proof approval, and you're not billed until it ships.
We keep a standing discount for replacing plates carrying a misspelling the customer already signed off on. A vendor only writes a policy for a failure it sees often enough to plan for. On a monthly program you're approving 12 names a year, usually in a hurry between other work, and the name is the one thing on the plate that can't be fixed after the fact.
If a deadline is the problem, a rush fee here buys a fast pass rather than faster machines. Your order goes ahead of one with a further-out event date. Tell us the date and we'll quote against it.
Related Plaque Categories
Programs running annual rather than monthly recognition should start with perpetual plaques, which covers the same pieces across every award cycle. Longer-tenure programs move on to service award plaques, and teams handing out recognition outside a fixed schedule use recognition plaques.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an employee of the month plaque cost?
Most land between $150 and $300, with smaller pieces below that and the largest rosewood and walnut plaques running higher. Engraving, the art proof and the logo setup are free, and there is no order minimum.
How many names fit on a perpetual plaque?
It depends on the size, and the layout is 2 or 3 columns of plates under a header area. A monthly program fills 12 plates a year, so a 12 inch plaque holds roughly a year and a 15 inch or larger plaque holds 3 or more. Buy for the third year rather than the first.
Can I add more nameplates later?
Yes, and that is the point of a perpetual plaque. Plates are ordered as you go and mount screwed, magnetic, or permanently affixed. Order as few as 1 at a time.
Can the plaque include a photo of the employee of the month?
Yes. Photo plaques hold a 4x6 of the current winner alongside the engraved nameplates, so the plaque shows this month's face and the running record together. Swap the photo each month and the plate stays in place.
What is the difference between a perpetual plaque and a regular one?
A perpetual plaque stays on the wall and collects a new engraved plate for each winner. A regular plaque is a single award the recipient keeps. Monthly programs usually run a perpetual plaque for the record and hand out something smaller for the winner to take home.
How fast can I get one?
6 days in production after you approve the proof, plus transit. Rush is available and buys your order a place ahead of others in the queue rather than a shortened production run, so quote it against your actual event date.