The survey by recruitment firm Talent2 found employee reward schemes have become popular with bosses desperate to retain and attract staff in Australia's skills shortage environment.

The most common rewards were laptops, bottles of wine and mobile phones, according to the survey of 1723 workers.

Some of the more unusual rewards uncovered in the survey included plane tickets, gym memberships, golf clubs, lifetime Qantas club memberships, crystal glasses, and even frozen turkeys.

Employees in the property (55.6%) and finance (52.6%) sectors were the most likely to receive rewards, while the least likely were those working in the government (19%) and legal (28.6%) sectors.

Half of the workers surveyed said their employers did not reward them with the perks of a job well done.

Matthew Bristow from Talent 2 said although money is a major factor in attracting and retaining staff, many Australians need to receive more than just an obligatory "well done" to remain motivated.

Caroline Ambrosini from recruitment company Ambrosini Professional Placements said it is vital for employers to offer their workers promotions during the present climate of skills shortages.

"To keep your best employees in this candidate scarce market, it's important to keep them fully engaged by doing more frequent career planning, and offering growth wherever possible," she said.

"It's not enough just to give salary increases - and not the best option for the company - so a promotion in the scope of their duties or other non-cash incentives in between salary rises are becoming more and more important."

Ambrosini said there are many ways to promote staff and rewards should be tailored to the employee.

"Managers need to understand what motivates and drives their particular employee and appeal to this," she said.

"There are many ways to promote - moving someone to another area is seen as more prestigious, changing lines of reporting so that they have more responsibility to supervise and review others, inviting them into management meetings that they've previously been excluded from are just some."

Campbell Sallabank, chief executive of recruitment company LinkMe, said it is always a challenge to retain staff.

"Being fairly paid, having an enjoyable job and a job that fits your lifestyle are keys to job satisfaction," Sallabank said.

"The other factor is career progression and feeling that you're building towards something. This is where promotion and providing new roles for staff is essential."

According to Sallabank, employers should look for ways to provide promotions wherever possible to reduce turnover - such as a pay rise, a change of job title, additional responsibilities or a new role.