Employee Appreciation Day, is right around the corner on March 2nd. There is so much you can do to express appreciation for the people who work at your organization. You want to show your employees that you appreciate them. But you also don’t want to spend an exorbitant amount of money demonstrating your gratitude.
This is a predicament many organizations find themselves in. They want to reward their workers, but they don’t necessarily have a huge budget for it.
The good news? Employee appreciation doesn’t necessarily have to cut your pockets deep. And even if you don’t have the budget for a huge bash, it’s better to recognize your team members in small ways than to not do anything at all.
The key thing is to know how individual employees want to and like to be recognized and get engaged. Customizing rewards and organizing engagement activities will ensure that each of your valued workers feel appreciated and involved.
Fun Ideas
Dress for Fun: Give a free hand to employees to dress up in their best outfits. Let them get creative and casual for a day and give away awards to the best dressed employees.
Convert the office into a fun zone: For a few hours, turn your workplace into a fun activity zone. Invite a standup comedian, let there be photo opt booths, tarot readings, fun games, Caricature Artistes etc.
Showcasing employee talent: Organize an extempore talent contest for employees, where the top 5 winners can be given get gift vouchers.
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Treat Ideas
Chocolates & Sweets: Distribute chocolates, candy bars, or drizzled popcorn with a personal thankyou note to all employees. This can be initiated by team leaders.
Lunch or Snack party: A Pizza or a snack party with team leads for larger organizations and at the cafetaria in smaller organizations can be a good idea to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day!
Wellness Ideas
Guided meditation & Free yoga or other exercise classes: Meditation is a great way to reduce stress. Bring in an expert to guide your employees, or host a recorded meditation for anyone who wants to participate in a quiet, dim room. You can also hire an on-site yoga or exercise teacher to come in for the day and host a series of classes for employees.
Educational Ideas
Educational speakers: Give employees access to thought leaders in your industry. It’s educational, and entertaining! You can even budget for employee-selected training/ development whether it’s a conference, class, or online course.
Rewards & Recognition Ideas
Social media employee recognition: If you want to praise your great employees for the whole world to see, post individual recognitions on your company’s social media channels.
Rewards & recognition suggestion box: It is a great idea to reach out to your employees and ask them what forms of recognition and rewards are the most meaningful to them. Is there something that your recognition or total rewards program is missing? This is a great time to find out.
Personalized thank you notes: Recognition technology is a powerful thing, but we still love the idea of hand-written notes every now and then. It gives a certain touch!
Is your workplace truly amazing? It’s time to find out! Take the Amazing Workplaces® survey and certification – your chance to benchmark your company against top performers, uncover hidden strengths and weaknesses, and embark on a journey to build a workplace that’s the envy of your entire industry. Know more
