20 Highly Effective Employee Appreciation Day Ideas

C’mon be honest, being recognized and appreciated is a great feeling we all love, and sometimes, we even crave it. 

Whether it’s a simple “thank you” for going the extra mile or an “awesome job!” for exceeding sales goals, appreciation and recognition is the main drive for continuing that behavior.

In order to have your employees performing at their very best, you must have a strategy to express your appreciation and recognition. And no, we aren’t talking about a financial incentive.

Money isn’t the only thing that drives your employees to work at their best. In fact, recognizing employees is a low-cost strategy that brings bigger rewards to your business and significantly improves employee retention. 

Having an employee appreciation day, which officially takes place on the first Friday of March but can basically be celebrated on any day of your choice, is the perfect opportunity to begin showing your employees that you care and that all their hard work and dedication are seen and appreciated.

NOTE: Appreciation is NOT, and should never be a one-day task so feel free to use the ideas to shape a strong foundation for continuous and regular employee appreciation and recognition all year-round.

20 Affordable & Creative Employee Appreciation Day Ideas

Team games like a scavenger hunt, blind drawing, office trivia, or the mind field are a great way to have fun, boost engagement, and show some appreciation. Plus, they offer a great opportunity for your team members to get to know one another in a fun setting and environment. 

There’s nothing like some healthy competition either!

The benefits? This is a fun way  for you and your employees to get to know each other better and bond as a team.

Get everyone out of the office for an hour, or even two, to wine and dine your employees. And the bills on you. (It’s Employee Appreciation Day after all.)

Taking your employees out to eat shows them that you care about what they have to say and it may make it easier for them to offer genuine feedback as the atmosphere is more relaxed.

The benefits? It is an opportunity to treat your employees and bond over a shared meal and some laughs.

Don’t miss the opportunity for your employees to show appreciation for one another. Your employees are way more in the know than you as they are “in the trenches” with their coworkers during the daily grind. Give them a platform to share positive things about their coworkers.

The benefits? It brings more positive things your employees have done to your and their peers’ attention.

Planning events or activities that can acknowledge and reward employees is time-consuming, and sometimes, not even possible if you work with remote employees or non-desk teams.

Rewards and recognition software allows you to acknowledge your employees, highlight their strengths, and convey appreciation from afar, no matter where everyone is working. With a simple app, you can deliver appreciation straight to employees’ mobile devices in an easy and effective way.

For example, Connecteam’s employee recognition app is designed to streamline recognition, even while on the go. Whether it’s for a dedicated employee appreciation day, a birthday shoutout, or for a job well-done with onboarding, you can immediately convey employee appreciation to your teammates.

Here’s just a few ways Connecteam can help foster a positive culture of appreciation:

• Send 1:1 messages: You can send private messages to employees with in-app online team chat to let them know they did a good job on a task or simply convey your appreciation for their hard work. Share customized digital badges, gifs, and emojis to make employees feel valued, no matter where they’re working.
• Give employee shout-outs on the company newsfeed: If you really want to acknowledge a job well done, let everyone on the team know about it by publicly sharing an employee’s achievements on the company newsfeed.
  
  This allows you to share digital badges of recognition publicly and gives other team members the opportunity to respond with encouraging word, likes, gifs, and comments.
• Provide tangible rewards: Gift your staff digital tokens which they can redeem for gift cards to their favorite retailers. This is a great incentive to boost team morale, employee engagement, and let employees know you appreciate their hard work while providing them with a tangible gift they can use whenever they want.

The benefits? Employee engagement software can enhance the sense of appreciation among staff by providing a platform for continuous recognition, personalized feedback, and opportunities for growth.

Throwing a happy hour is a fun break from the daily grind and an opportunity for your employees and managers to mingle and have positive interactions in a more relaxed and fun atmosphere. This in turn can reduce stress levels and create a more healthy company culture. 

Consider that after-work engagements may mean that some employees can’t make it so perhaps during the workday is more comfortable. 

The benefits? It creates a platform for casually socializing and learning something new about your peers and managers.

Physically buying a card and writing down your thanks is not a lost art. It can actually go a really long way for employee appreciation day. It can be a quick note on a piece of paper, post-it, card, or even certificate. 

You can also send a digital appreciation message in private or share it with the whole team to drive a culture of excellence.

The benefits? Taking the time out of your busy schedule to write your thanks makes your employees feel truly noticed and appreciated.

It is super easy to create a ‘swag’ bag filled with fun gifts such as company-branded clothing, pens, coffee cups, notebooks, or water bottles. Be sure to add in some treats and gift cards.

Or you can take it a step further and ask your team what kind of swag they would love to get – this can help increase loyalty and fun conversations about the company brand.

The benefits? Anyone loves to receive gifts and company swag is one they can wear and use with pride.

Organize a field trip to a local museum, botanical garden, or park. Sign up for a factory, brewery, or winery tour. Use Employee Appreciation Day as an opportunity to better know your community and learn about your neighbors. It might even spark some new ideas!

The benefits? It helps create a memorable day that is filled with fun while enjoying local attractions and maybe even learning something new.

While it may seem old-school, it does work. 

Having a dedicated space that includes a framed photo of the top employees for the month can lead to recognition, better conversation, and wanting to see your own photo up on the wall.

The benefits? This will make your elected employees feel extra special and appreciated and motivate others to get up there next.

Offering a career-based reward is not only perfect for your employees but will also benefit your company. Send employees to leadership training, seminars, or allow them to choose an online class they want to take. Sometimes, it may not be directly related to the current job role but it does show you’re invested in their career. 

The benefits? It shows that managers are invested in their employees’ careers for the long haul.

As a team, go out and volunteer at a homeless shelter, senior living community, or humane society. Or you can even plant trees, cook for those in need, bring joy to seniors, or take dogs for walks at shelters. Deloitte found that 70% of working Americans strongly believe “volunteer activities are more likely to boost employee morale than company-sponsored happy hours.”

If you’re not sure which opportunities or events to attend, just ask your team for some ideas.

The benefits? Everyone works together to help the community while creating amazing memories and getting to know their coworkers better.

You don’t necessarily  have to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day on the official date. Why not create your own that’s special to your team? Maybe it’s the day you opened your doors or smashed a goal and exceeded expectations.

You can either give everyone the day off but if you really want to maximize engagement, go big. Hold an awards ceremony, go bowling, grill out at the local park, and so on. Whatever way you choose to celebrate your own employee appreciation day, make sure it’s something your team really looks forward to.

The benefits? You and your employees create it so it’s a unique and collaborative joint engagement activity.

Whether it’s virtual or in-person, why not bring in a relevant industry speaker or influencer to talk with your team? They can effortlessly share their knowledge and experience which adds more value to your employees. Plus, it helps break away from that everyday grind.

The benefits? Your employees gain additional knowledge from an industry leader to grow their own skills while having fun!

You can level up from sending just a “thank you” note and instead take the time to create a special “thank you” video for your entire company! If possible, share the video on your employee team chat app, YouTube, your social channels, and even the company website.

The benefits? With a personal video – whether individually sent or company-wide, your employees will appreciate the extra mile and personal touch.

Here’s the thing, 28% of employees said that “the most memorable recognition comes from their manager,” while 24% said that they want to be recognized by a senior leader or CEO.

Employee recognition and appreciation really mean something when it comes from the top down. It could be at a company-wide meeting, leadership writing an email, or creating a video, etc.

The benefits? Your employees will create a stronger bond to the company and will feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

Another creative idea is to send a small and thoughtful gift to their home. You can include a bottle of wine, a small cake or sweets, or even something that supports a locally owned business. 

Coming home to a surprise gift box is always a fun treat and shows that you really care and put some thought and effort into what you got them. 

The benefits? This will give your employees a pleasant surprise and make them feel valued and appreciated.

Another Employee Appreciation Day idea is to allow that employee to work from home for the day. Although this won’t boost engagement in the office, employees do like to work from home every once in a while.

If you’re worried about employees working from home, you should know that Forbes research shows that it actually increases employee retention, productivity, performance, engagement, and profitability. 

The benefits? Not only will your employees feel appreciated; your company also benefits from the resulting higher rates of productivity and retention – it’s a win-win situation.

Although it may sound silly, giving the recognized employee the boss’ parking spot not only makes the employee feel important, but the boss will also be very aware of who the winner was! 

You can even have colleagues decorate the spot to make the employee of the month feel extra special. 

The benefits? You increase employee engagement and have a fun time while doing so!

Instead of giving monetary gifts to the employee of the month or those being recognized, donate to a charity of their choice and make a positive impact. Not only does this show that you appreciate your employees, but you show them the importance of giving back to the community as well. 

Additionally, this shows your employees that you are invested in and support their interests and concerns. 

The benefits? Employees feel that they are making a positive difference in the world and as well as at the workplace.

Another way to show an employee your appreciation is to make it known that the company is invested in and genuinely cares about their employees’ health and well-being.

Instead of taking them to lunch or buying them a bottle of wine, you can hire a yoga instructor to come and lead a yoga class or even provide smokers with a chance to meet with a mentor to help them quit. 

The benefits? Increased health and positivity as well as potentially less sick days and absences.

More Ideas For Employee Appreciation Day

The list of ideas you can implement at your company to show your employees recognition on Employee Appreciation Day, and beyond, is never-ending.

Consider the human aspect and put yourself in their shoes. What would they like and appreciate? What motivates them?

So what else can you do?

• Improve the break room
• Invite food trucks 
• Allow for casual Mondays  
• Give a shout-out on social media
• Offer gym memberships
• Hire a masseuse 
• Allow pets to come to the office

Make The Most Out Of Employee Appreciation Day

Employee appreciation is not a one-time task to check off on Employee Appreciation Day. 

Instead, it must be an integral part of your company culture and an attitude that all managers adopt. Remember that your employees are your most important asset, so show them that they are valued and appreciated. Additionally, most of the ideas listed above can be easily done through an employee management software solution, like Connecteam.

For instance choosing the employee of the month is fun and engaging with a digital live poll that allows colleagues and managers to vote anonymously. You can then easily see who won on the social feed, for colleagues and managers to like, comment on, and even share GIFS or images to further boost engagement.

When it comes to lowering employee turnover, boosting productivity, and morale, you must focus on employee appreciation.