Each year issues a brooch to its employees to mark Nio's growth, and this year's theme is Hello Norway.

Nio has been innovating a lot in its efforts to maintain relationships with its vehicle owners, and it seems to be doing the same with its internal employee management.

The company recently issued an employee-only digital collection of NFTs, the first time it has done so, according to information shared by Ma Lin, Nio's senior director of corporate communications, via his WeChat.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are blockchain-based products whose most important feature is their uniqueness, as each NFT is different from the others.

Every year, Nio issues a brooch to its employees that records the annual moment to mark the growth of Nio, according to Ma.

The theme of this year's brooch is Hello Norway, created by renowned jewelry designer Thomas.V and inspired by the Northern Lights.

In case you don't know Thomas.V, we provide some additional background. At the end of July last year, CnEVPost reported that Nio's lifestyle brand, Nio Life, signed two luxury designers in Paris, France, one of whom is former Cartier jewelry designer Thomas.V.

Nio's release of NFT digital brooches includes 15,500 pieces, including seven regular designs, and one mystery design, according to Ma.

According to information shared by some Weibo bloggers, Nio will distribute both the physical and digital versions of this souvenir to its employees this year through a lottery.

The regular design of the NFT includes 3 tiers, with the lowest tier including three versions, each offering 3,999 pieces, with a 25.8 percent probability of each employee receiving one. Ma shared information that he received one of this tier.

The middle tier of the regular design also offers three versions, each offering 999 pieces, with a 6.45 percent probability that an employee will receive one.

The top tier has only one version, offering 499 pieces, with a 3.22 percent probability of employees getting one.

The mystery design is available in only one version, offering 7 pieces, with a 0.05 percent probability of obtaining it.

It is worth noting that China prohibits cryptocurrency trading, and while NFTs are not cryptocurrencies, their trading is also discouraged.

Nonetheless, as a collectible for internal use, this move by Nio is refreshing.