Showing timely respect to your team and workforce will go a very long way in achieving great success. It’s your employee who brings you the desired outcome and goodwill. To acknowledge their contribution, each year in March first the first Friday is celebrated as an “Employee Appreciation Day”. There can never be any perfect opportunity of showing your employees how much you value their hard work and contributions and that you are paying close attention to all their needs through employee recognition awards.
Make sure you celebrate Employee Appreciation Day that is completely centered around your employees that make things happen daily. In this article, I will share the 5 best ways of celebrating Employee Appreciation Day with your employees and make it one of the most unique and special affairs for them.
- Take your employees out for lunch or break
The Employee Appreciation Day mainly falls on the first Friday of March and there is not any better way of celebrating the weekend than with other types of happy hour! You can take a break, relax, socialize, as well as celebrate your employee’s hard work that they have done till now.
When your employees enjoy their work, better will be the workplace atmosphere. It will result in higher productivity as well as collaboration that results in a less tiring work environment. You can gather your entire team together by organizing the barbeque & drinks where your team will truly relax and unwind. You can take this wonderful opportunity to acknowledge their efforts and hard work that they have put in & thanked them for the job done well.
- Play games and socialize
More you can engage your team in games like the scavenger hunt or any team-based games like Olympics. They will be the best opportunities for the teams to know one another much better in the fun setting whereas introducing healthy competition & encouraging their innovative ideas and thinking. There are chances you will see the coworkers in a new light and energy that will help to bring positive output. The best part is your employees will have a lot of fun, know their colleagues, feeling a bit closer to your team and enjoyment.
- Provide perks to your employees
When it comes to great Employee Appreciation Day ideas, you will never go wrong with the unique perks. Besides staples like health insurance, stock options, or any gift ideas, you can consider giving your employees the massage chairs, 24/7 gym classes, yoga classes, and various other perks.
You may personalize these ideas according to the nature and size of the business. For instance, if your employee is finding it difficult to take public transport in your area, carpool benefits will show them you appreciate the various facets of the employee’s work life.
- Appreciate your employees with awards and recognition
Mostly your recognition program must have awards for tenure or achievement; but, on this special day, you should think of some unique awards, which celebrate every employee’s unique individuality. Possibly someone will be “Team Wordsmith,” whereas someone is “Team Lecturers.” You can find many other similar and unique award titles that you can award your employee on this special day to commemorate their moment. All these awards are a meaningful way of celebrating what every employee contributes.
- Get your managers to personally appreciate the good work
The employee appreciation must not be any formal process, where events are held one or two times a year. There is nothing more appreciating than hearing from the senior leaders or managers and learn that they’re making a real difference to the growth of their company.
One best idea for the Employee Appreciation Day celebration is the direct Thank You note from your CEO. It is very important for big companies where the sense of ownership & belonging will be tough to achieve. It is always very encouraging for an employee to be recognized by the CEO of the company for their effort and hard work.
Conclusion
It is really good to have one whole day dedicated to making your entire team feel good and special about their hard work. It’s better if they will feel in this way the entire year with these employee recognition awards.