I have found that Soldiers and even myself are more appreciative of small gestures of appreciations.

I took to writing personal notes after I was wowed by a General officer doing the same for me. It was one of the first times I had Soldiers come up to me and personally tell me how much that gesture meant to them.

Pizza!  I’ve used food a lot over the years.  Whether it was to thank a commo team for staying late to get the job done or rewarding a squad for their first dismounted patrol in a war zone, pizza and soda/Gatorade go a long way.

Time off. As a Guard commander, you are authorized to allow up to 1 MUTA (basically half of a day) off without having to get approval from your BN.  I used this as a reward for things like best APFT score or as an impact award for going above and beyond or spending time during the month working on something.