In North Liberty we have a lifeguard of the week all summer (LG of the month during indoor winter months) that the managers select. We also have a swim instructor of the week in summer, session in winter. After they choose I send out an email to the entire staff congratulating these individuals and announcing the reasons for the their selection. Every summer I have a prize for them as well. We’ve done staff member of the week t-shirts (big hit), this summer they could choose from a lifeguard bucket hat, baseball hat, or nicer whistle for their prize. Swim instructors are the same if it is a not a specific lifeguard item, like the t-shirts, this summer they received a key chain that stated swim instructor.
At the end of each summer we have a staff pot luck party where awards are given out. We usually combine this with our summer staff Olympics. The managers select individuals for the awards, we have serious ones like guard of the summer, instructor of the summer, rookie of the year and then some fun silly awards too.
Just a few things I do that I think helps and the staff seem to enjoy!