How about an excellent professional reference for their next position...just kidding...sort of...

A number of these are dangerous from a management and political perspective because the manager could be seen as playing 'favorites' by the rest of his reports. In particular, I think that 3,7,8,9, and 14 have this characteristic. 

In the past I have tended to give stellar performers difficult and challenging assignments that I knew would be problematic for other people in my organization. I viewed this simply as good business and not favoritism - but at times it was not construed that way by others on my team. Once the latter happens or is perceived, it is difficult to rectify. Which is why I find some of the items on the list problematic from leadership and management perspectives.

I was comfortable with #1 through #4; in fact, one of the issues I often face with my clients is that they are unwilling/unable to provide these very basic and yet very powerful currencies.  Rationalizations that I've heard for this include "I don't want it to go to his/her head" and "I don't want to leave the impression that there's no room for improvement".  As if a simple, sincere expression of gratitude or approval will ruin an otherwise competent employees.

From #5 on, I feel mixed degrees of danger, and I agree with Bob's comments above.  And, as a compensation consultant, I've spent way too much time sorting through the aftermath of #11, trying to figure out who is actually doing what, to support that option ...

Another thought-provoking post. I have to humbly disagree with the dissenters here. In Bob's case, you have to give the challenging assignments to those are best suited for them. Who else would you give them to? Not someone who you knew would fail.

I would challenge the dissenters here only because many of these non-financial currencies are being used by successful managers. Are some problematic? Sure. But what form of reward doesn't come with the same risks?

What about additional education?  It won't work for everyone, but there are a lot of people who would be very motivated  by giving them extra training.  

I was once working for an employer where I was really the only one pursuing any educational opportunities, so I was able to get more than my fair share of the educational budget. In addition to helping me become better at my job, it kept me working there for a few extra years before I decided to move on.

This worked out great for me because the politics of the organization only looked at my salary, so no one was complaining about how much I was being paid (the pay check was pretty low). However I was looking at the total value of the education as well as the flexibility of getting time off when I needed it.