
Employee Appreciation Day is an opportunity for companies and small businesses to focus their attention on employee recognition.
Employee Appreciation Day is the ideal time for small businesses to thank their team members by creating heartfelt, fun, and memorable recognition experiences. Read ahead for ideas on how your small business can celebrate Employee Appreciation Day.
Consider making a gift bag for each of your employees that includes a variety of small items such as sweets, treats, candles, or gift cards. Ideally, these bags will be created based on your employees’ preferences, demonstrating to them that they are valued by their employers. This doesn’t have to be expensive; it just has to be personal.
Providing a nice lunch or dinner followed by a group activity is a great way for your employees to spend some time outside of the workplace. And, while they’re eating, managers or owners can individually affirm each employee—even saying one nice thing about each employee can make a difference in their day.
Another good idea is to send a personal note or email to each member of your team on Employee Appreciation Day. Include details and be specific in your expression of gratitude. Consider what they bring to the team, what you admire about them, or which projects they worked on this year that made a difference. Emphasize their employee accomplishments. They’ll appreciate the fact that you took the time to notice who they are and what they do.
Happy hours allow everyone to unwind, share food, and build relationships with their coworkers. During this, your employees can spend time together in a relaxed and entertaining atmosphere, playing games, or simply having casual conversations.
Although it is not a federally mandated holiday, you have the option of rewarding your team with additional paid time off. This could be an entire day off, a late start day, or an early end day. All these are simple ways to recognize the hard work your employees are putting in. A day off to unwind and recharge can do wonders for your company’s morale.
Everyone enjoys good competition, and it creates excitement and suspense among the employees as well. However, as a small business, each of your employees will have a good chance of winning. Choose a prize that will appeal to your team members.
Publicly recognize your employees by making recognition posts on your social media pages. If you have a small staff, make a point of highlighting each employee individually. Do a group appreciation post if you have a large staff.
On Employee Appreciation Day, encourage peer appreciation. You could purchase a card or hang a sheet of paper for each employee and have them write nice things on each other’s sheets. You can also leave slips of paper out for people to write positive things about their coworkers anonymously.
These are just a few examples of how small businesses can celebrate with their employees. However, the best Employee Appreciation Day ideas are based on genuine gratitude and celebrations that are both meaningful and enjoyable. You don’t need to have a large budget to make the most of this day. People devote hours, days, weeks, months, and years to your company; do everything in your power to make this year’s Employee Appreciation Day one that employees will remember.