Employee Appreciation Day is a golden opportunity to show your team just how much you value their hard work and dedication. But finding the right way to express your gratitude can be a challenge. Do you go for heartfelt employee appreciation day messages, or maybe unique gifts and experiences? No matter your approach, this day is all about making your employees feel special and appreciated. We have a range of ideas to help you make the most of employee appreciation day, from thoughtful gestures to creative celebrations. Whether you're looking for the best gifts or trying to craft the perfect message, we've got you covered.
One way to make your Employee Appreciation Day celebrations even more memorable is to use Giftpack's company-branded swag. It's an easy and effective way to show your appreciation and make your employees feel valued.
When is Employee Appreciation Day?
Employee Appreciation Day, celebrated on the first Friday in March, is a special occasion to recognize employees' hard work and dedication. Dr. Bob Nelson, who co-founded Recognition Professionals International, established it in 1995.
His doctoral research focused on understanding why managers fail to recognize their employees. This day encourages employers to show gratitude, reminding them that saying “thank you” isn't just polite; it's essential.
The Lasting Impact of Employee Appreciation
Employee Appreciation Day has gained popularity in the United States and beyond. It reminds company leaders, managers, and HR to prioritize acknowledging their teams. Gratitude should be woven into the fabric of a company's culture, where employees feel valued for who they are and what they contribute. This boosts engagement, productivity, innovation, and retention.
Related Reading
• Remote Employee Appreciation Day • Employee Appreciation Day Gratitude
50 Timeless Ideas for Celebrating Employee Appreciation Day
1. Just Say “thank you”
A simple thank you can transform your workplace, boosting productivity, engagement, and retention. To make appreciation effortless, use tools that integrate with daily communication platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
For example, plugins that prompt recognition after meetings and tie into rewards platforms enhance the experience. Add a personal touch with handwritten thank-you notes showing genuine thought and care. These small actions create a culture where every day feels like employee appreciation day, fostering meaningful connections and lasting impact.
2. Celebrate Birthdays
Employees who don't mind public gestures will enjoy celebrating their birthdays. Ask a manager to bring a cake for the team to share, send a gift, or give that person a day off. Since there’s an app for everything nowadays, check out Bonusly or Fond.co to automate birthday reminders and rewards.
3. Recognize Employees on Social Media
Giving employees a shout-out on company social media feeds is a simple way to thank them publicly. Share a shout-out on:
Wherever your company has a social media presence, encourage clients and colleagues to add positive comments. As a bonus, you’ll put a human face on your company for customers and social followers.
4. Offer Extended Breaks
Rewarding employees with longer breaks is a simple way to recognize their hard work. Depending on your company's structure, consider providing an extended lunch break for individuals or teams on certain days. Don't forget to ensure someone can cover if, for example, that employee is in a customer service role.
5. Support Sabbaticals for Long-term Employees
Sabbatical leaves aren’t just for academia. By offering sabbaticals at, say, five, seven and 10 years with the company, you enable your most senior employees to pursue personal causes or interests, such as taking a class, traveling, doing a service gig with a charity, writing a book or volunteering.
6. Pass Out a Rotating Trophy
Purchase or create a fun trophy such as a plastic superhero figurine, stuffed animal, or even a life-size cardboard cutout of the CEO that you can pass around the company as someone new is recognized. Give it to an employee who has demonstrated excellence, such as behavior that aligns with company values, and let them keep it at their desk for a week or another predetermined period.
Ensure the employee hands off the trophy to the next deserving staffer. When recognizing the employee, explain what the trophy stands for and the specific action they're being recognized for.
7. Surprise Employees With Lunch or Sweet Treats
Providing meals on busy workdays shows your employees you're thinking about them and appreciate their discretionary efforts. You don't have to get extravagant; it can be as simple as ordering pizzas or leaving snacks in the common area. If you plan, there are subscription services that will deliver munchies and let employees order their preferred meals.
8. Provide Professional Development Opportunities
Encouraging your employees to further their professional development shows them that leaders care about their careers and benefits the company. Consider offering stipends to complete post-secondary education, covering professional certification courses, purchasing a corporate MasterClass subscription, or bringing in a service such as wiseHer, which provides on-demand expert advice and education.
9. Celebrate the Small, Daily Wins
Follow our advice about being timely by starting all meetings with recognition of recent employee or team wins; it’s a great way to boost morale. Individual managers should take the lead here.
10. Create an Employee Wall of Fame
A wall of fame can be as simple as creating a space to put up photos of employees who have done exceptionally well, including the specific actions they've taken to garner this recognition.
The wall doesn’t need to be physical for companies that work primarily virtually. A page on your in-house or, if appropriate, customer-facing site can highlight employees' various accomplishments. Ask employees to nominate co-workers to encourage their involvement.
11. Send a Card
A handwritten thank-you note is a simple gesture that goes a long way. Receiving a card is memorable, and it’s a physical keepsake. Send cards to employees’ home addresses or leave them on their desks. Ordering branded cards can be a nice touch.
What should you write for employee recognition? When penning a thank-you note, be specific about what you’re thanking the employee for and note some particular ways you appreciate their work.
12. Schedule a Hackathon
A hackathon is a day-long event during which employees from different teams brainstorm and develop new products or services, an ad campaign, or a customer service initiative. The hackathon is dedicated to helping a deserving customer or nonprofit.
Rewarding employees allows them to break out of their routines, work with colleagues from different departments, and contribute to the company’s or customer/nonprofit’s success. There are plenty of guides to running a successful hackathon; set your mission and ground rules and watch the innovation flow.
13. Implement a Peer-recognition Program
As meaningful as recognition from management is, people often appreciate kudos from colleagues even more. Implementing a formal program for employees to show appreciation and recognition ensures that feedback is provided more regularly. Your human capital management (HCM) software may allow employees to submit peer recognition.
14. Conduct Town Hall Meetings
Regular, open communication between senior leaders and employees minimizes turnover. Town hall meetings are a great way to encourage open dialogue between executive decision-makers and their staff. The goal is to communicate strategy, show employees why certain decisions have been made, and offer employees a chance to provide honest feedback.
Hosting regular town hall meetings sends the message to employees that the company cares enough to get their insights and that their opinions matter. A largely remote workforce can still get together using today’s advanced collaboration tools.
15. Organize Service Days
Organizing a day where employees can support a good cause helps with team-building and provides a break from the office. It could be a hackathon, as discussed, or teams could work with groups like Habitat for Humanity or local charities to serve meals, sort donations or tutor kids. Paying employees for the day and potentially making a cash or in-kind donation to the charity shows that the company cares about more than the bottom line.
16. Give Employees a Day Off to Volunteer
Many companies allow employees to take a paid day off each year to volunteer at the nonprofit organizations of their choice instead of or in addition to a companywide day of service. Work with HR to ensure a way to effectively manage days off, such as asking employees to note the exact charity and activity they'll participate in. Again, consider an in-kind or financial contribution to honor the employee’s efforts.
17. Host a Private Lunch
Employees who aren't fans of public recognition might prefer being taken out to a private lunch with a senior member of the organization or their direct supervisors. This one-on-one time fosters meaningful connections and keeps executives attuned to the workforce.
18. Provide Gift Cards or Discount Programs
Giving gift cards can help bypass some of the complexities of cash incentives, though they may still be considered taxable income. Allow employees to choose the retailer they like the most to ensure they'll enjoy their rewards.
Enroll your company in an employee discount program like those from Working Advantage, Entertainment Benefits Group or Next Jump. These offer great prices on tickets and discounts with merchant partners.
19. Provide Teams with a Discretionary Rewards Budget
Instead of allowing only managers to approve expenditures for employee recognition efforts, give each team or employee a modest budget to recognize fellow employees with a gift, group dinner, or happy hour.
Establish guidelines, such as what might count as an occasion to purchase a gift, what may be taxable and so must be cleared by finance, and how to keep track of spending so they can navigate your expense management system.
20. Share Positive Customer Feedback Companywide
When customers or vendors praise employees, share it throughout the company. You could create a display similar to the employee wall of fame, or sharing compliments on social media, or in companywide memos or newsletters.
21. Publicize Good Deeds Done for the Community
When employees do good in the community or go above and beyond for a customer, feature them on your website, or even in an advertisement for the company.
22. Treat Employees and Their Families to an Offsite Event
An annual companywide outing helps workers get to know each other outside of work and offers a chance to relax and recharge. An offsite doesn’t need to be an elaborate outing to a resort; even a local park cookout will make employees feel appreciated.
23. Host a Wellness Day or Program
Attention to employee health and well-being is a top talent management trend. Everyday workplace health and well-being benefits include subsidies for gym memberships and increased mental health coverage.
On a smaller scale, a spa or wellness day allows employees to relax and feel rejuvenated without spending the money required for a significant offsite. If you can't afford to book a spa outing, consider hosting one at your office. Hire massage therapists, nail technicians, or yoga instructors to create a mini spa experience without the hefty price tag.
24. Give out DIY Certificates
While a gift card could raise tax implications, a voucher for a half-day off or a free lunch at the cafeteria is an inexpensive way to provide recognition.
25. Implement an Employee Recognition Parking Program
Reserving a few premium parking spots for employees who have done exceptional work is a public reward. Your company can go so far as to decorate the space or put up a sign indicating the parking spot's purpose.
For those who use public transportation, companies can offer a monthly pass.
26. Host Brainstorm Sessions Outside the Office
This isn’t an outing; it’s a meeting, not in your offices. A change of scenery can often boost productivity and engagement.
Let your employees know in advance what you hope to accomplish and what they’re expected to contribute so they can prepare. Places to host such days include a private room at a restaurant, hotel, movie theater, or any location that offers privacy and A/V support.
27. Give Thanks From Senior Management
Workers at larger corporations may not have direct lines of communication with senior leaders. That's why it can feel special for an executive to recognize employees and deliver a heartfelt message formally. This message can be a phone call, prerecorded video, or handwritten note. Just make it personal.
28. Gamify the Workplace
Gamification can work well as a productivity and motivation tool, giving employees a fun way to hit milestones or complete training. It is all about turning a tedious process into an interactive format that uses:
- Points
- Levels
- Rewards
- Other gaming mechanisms
To motivate employees. Again, there are apps for this, including Edgagement, Hoopla, and Gametize.
29. Write a LinkedIn Recommendation
Having a leader write a recommendation on LinkedIn can increase employee loyalty. You're publicly demonstrating your confidence in that person, which can make employees feel deeply valued.
30. Offer Monetary Support for Employee Commutes
Commuting can be expensive, especially if employees live far away or your HQ is in a city with significant traffic. Instead of offering an occasional reward, like a dedicated parking space, provide a small stipend for gas or subsidize individuals who choose to carpool.
31. Provide Free Parking
Parking may be scarce depending on where your office is located. If your building doesn't have private parking, paying for reserved spaces in a public lot will earn praise from employees who hate paying to park their vehicles at work. But make sure you don’t disincentivize carpooling or public transportation.
32. Hire Food Trucks
If you don’t have a cafeteria or a variety of local lunch spots, solving the problem of where to go for lunch will go a long way to winning brownie points. Options include hiring a food truck or bringing in a caterer.
Do so regularly, and you can negotiate a discount with the vendor. The Roaming Hunger app will connect you with local food trucks across North America; also, check for apps that cover your local area.
33. Give Employees a Shorter Workday
Rewarding employees with the ability to finish their workdays early may be an alternative to offering extra breaks. It incentivizes employees to be more productive in meeting their targets or completing their essential tasks while still being paid the same.
Many companies, for example, offer summer hours where employees can leave a few hours early on Fridays from Memorial to Labor Day with manager approval.
34. Offer Late Starts
Similar to shorter workdays, you can reward employees who have done exceptional work by allowing them to come in late. It's a reasonably simple gesture that you can implement successfully, assuming there's a system to handle the temporary staffing shortfall.
For both items, the point is to give workers flexibility in their working hours.
35. Give Company Swag
People love free stuff, and swag is no exception. Don't skimp on quality. Order useful items that employees will like, like wireless earbuds, water bottles, phone covers, and high-quality apparel.
36. Trick Out Your Break Room
A break room should be where employees can rest and recharge, so a clean and inviting environment is necessary. Depending on budget, you can upgrade the furniture and appliances or add fun additions like a library, a game console, or even a snack station.
37. Find Concrete Ways to Show Staff Their Positive Impact
Find ways to formally show your staff how their actions have directly and positively impacted the company, customers, and the community. This may include showing the amount they've donated collectively to a nonprofit or how, for example, a specific project helped increase revenue.
38. Recognize Achievements Outside of Work
Your employees have outside interests. Recognizing personal successes and professional achievements shows that you care about employees as individuals and not just what they do for the company.
39. Start a Formal Mentoring Program
When implemented correctly, mentoring programs give those who mentor a sense of accomplishment and show mentees that someone cares about them at the company. You can also look outward and partner with an organization like Mentoring Minds to help employees share their expertise outside the company.
40. Recognize Work Anniversaries
Companies with high turnover might want to recognize yearly anniversaries. Reward people for staying by formally recognizing their work anniversaries and paying a bonus that grows larger every year. Maybe Year 1 is 2% of salary, which develops a point or two yearly.
41. Feature Employee Thought Leadership
If your company has a blog, open the opportunity for employees to contribute content. A customer service expert may have product insights to share with the sales or R & D team. An internal newsletter featuring employee insights lets people share their know-how.
Also, consider podcasts by marketing leads, lunch-and-learn sessions by IT experts on various topics, and even a speaking gig at a corporate event your company is hosting or sponsoring.
42. Offer a Choice of Experiential Rewards
Pricier tiered rewards can make top-performing talent feel appreciated for their extra efforts. Experiential rewards such as flying lessons or a wine tasting tour are a level up from items like gift cards, and employees are more likely to remember them.
43. Leave Small Notes
Leaving thoughtful sticky notes on a colleague's keyboard, mug or desk is a small but pleasant gesture that shows others are thinking of them.
44. Pledge or Match Donations to an Employee's Chosen Charity
Companies can pledge a predetermined amount to donate to an employee's preferred charity — an alternative to service days or giving time off to volunteer. Set guidelines to ensure it's a legitimate and reputable charity, and collect receipts from nonprofits for tax purposes.
45. Give Personalized Swag
Personalized swag takes giving away company-branded swag one step further. The more creative these items are, the more memorable they'll be. Some ideas include unique signs for their desks, hand-painted portraits of employees, or engraved mugs.
46. Recognize Employee Skills
Recognizing skills is just as crucial as recognizing employee achievements. Take a restaurant server who’s very knowledgeable about wines and might be a flight risk given high restaurant turnover. Invite her to give a talk to colleagues or consider covering the cost of a sommelier course so she sees a growth path. The idea is that nurturing skills encourages employees to work to their full potential.
Companies can even award recognition for various skills they hope to cultivate. Examples include public speaking, creating effective systems, or learning a new software system well enough to become a designated power user.
47. Host a Drawing
Host a lunch or meeting where employees' names will be drawn from a hat to receive a reward. These names can come from peer nominations. The more times someone is nominated, the more entries they'll get, increasing their chances of winning.
48. Start a Weekly Team Breakfast or Lunch
It can be bagels on Friday, tacos every other Tuesday, or an offsite lunch at the end of each quarter. The point is to be predictable so employees can look forward to getting together.
49. Publish a Yearbook
Creating a yearbook is a permanent way to showcase employees' work over the last 12 months. Get creative, it can be an homage to a traditional high school yearbook, where employees can add their favorite quotes or memories from the past year.
50. Provide Monetary Rewards for Suggestions That Pay Off
Your employees are intimately involved in the business's day-to-day operations and are an excellent source for suggestions. A warehouse employee may devise a more efficient way to do inventory that saves $3,000 in contractor costs, or an HR manager devises a better employee onboarding process that reduces new-worker attrition by 15%.
Managers can work with finance to estimate the positive impact on revenue and reward the big thinker with a bonus representing 10% of the first year’s savings. When employees are incentivized to drive out costs and increase efficiency, it’s a win/win.
12 Unique Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas for Your Team
1. Virtual Gift Card for a Wellness or Spa Experience
Investing in employee well-being is a powerful gesture, but many people need a nudge. With a virtual gift card, you point them toward relaxation and self-care. Use services like Hoppier to give access to Spafinder, Classpass, and Headspace. You can even purchase virtual bulk gift cards to prepare you for every employee appreciation gift occasion. Healthier, happier employees contribute more to the team.
2. Dance Classes
Help your team let loose with dance classes! Cities like Las Vegas, NYC, and the Bay Area offer lessons in various styles. These classes help build confidence and allow employees to express themselves in a fun way.
3. Photography Classes
Employees can learn from expert photographers in each city. Remote teams can stream online photography classes and learn to capture images using smartphones, digital cameras, and traditional film. These classes let employees explore their creativity and gain a new skill.
4. Acting Classes
Acting classes are ideal for employees with a taste for drama! They’ll learn self-expression techniques and perform fun exercises for character building and scene preparation. Online acting classes provide a more private setting for the shy set to explore their talents.
5. Travel Packages
Combine an airfare gift card with an Airbnb gift card and let your employees choose a getaway for themselves. This employee appreciation gift idea lets them relax in a new destination or spend a little time in their favorite faraway place.
6. Shopping Sprees
Let your team choose their employee appreciation gift ideas! Designate a workable budget for each member, plan a trip to a local mall or nearby shopping center, and let them run wild as they choose whatever gift suits them best.
7. Hot Air Balloon Ride
Help your crew see the world from a new perspective with a hot air balloon ride! They’ll spend a relaxing morning taking in the sights and celebrate their triumphant return to Earth with a champagne toast.
8. Smart Speakers
Smart speakers make employee appreciation gift ideas that make life easier! An Amazon Echo or Dot or a Google Nest on their desks provides workers with handy voice-activated assistance with various daily tasks. They’ll also have mood-setting music whenever they need it.
9. Added Perks
Work-life balance is an essential part of the modern office. To accommodate this change in workplace dynamics, the largest and most successful companies have increased their perks and stipends and even offered unlimited vacation days.
Perfect as a work anniversary gift, you can increase the recipient’s per diem if they travel, offer extra vacation days, or include a gym membership. The more an employee learns to get away from the office, the more productive they’ll become when they’re in it.
10. Company Clubs
Interest clubs are easy to set up and a great way to unite people based on hobbies like reading, gaming, cooking, or crafting. Use some of your corporate gifting budget to provide drinks and snacks using a Hoppier card, or buy supplies like books, games, and ingredients.
11. Mini Company Retreat
Company retreats when planned correctly are a helpful way to gather everyone in one place to share ideas, make progress, and get to know each other. But they’re also a rewarding employee appreciation gift, especially if you put the focus on wellness and personal growth.
Make time at your annual corporate retreat for moments of gratitude or host a dedicated mini retreat around these themes. Ask your team members which activities they’d most like to try, then plan a schedule that features sessions based on their interests and passions.
You could even collaborate on the planning of the whole event, giving your employees the gift of choice over locations, venues, restaurants, activities, and more.
12. Personal Gratitude Budget
Research shows that recognition from management matters, but peer-to-peer recognition can be even more impactful. Empower your team members with a small budget to spend on gifts for the people they work with.
Decide on a figure that fits your budget and surprise your employees with this new policy. Encourage them to send thank-you gifts that don’t have to elaborate. Even customized:
- T-shirts
- Tote bags
- Keychains
Company swag will work. This is a great way to invest in your team and create a culture of gratitude and appreciation.
Related Reading
• Employee Appreciation Day Games • Employee Appreciation Day Team Building Games
The Mutual Benefits of Employee Appreciation
Recognizing and appreciating your employees is more than a feel-good gesture it’s a smart business move. When people enjoy their work environment, they're more likely to be engaged, which can lead to increased productivity. This isn't just theory; research supports it. A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that employees who regularly hear thank you are likelier to go above and beyond. They help coworkers, take initiative, and welcome new team members. This positive cycle boosts morale and enhances overall performance.
Building Stronger Relationships Through Appreciation
Employee Appreciation Day is an opportunity to connect with your team on a personal level. Strong manager-employee relationships are crucial for satisfaction and engagement.
When managers build genuine connections with their teams, employees feel valued and are more committed to their work. This connection fosters a sense of belonging and encourages proactive behavior. A positive relationship with your direct manager can make all the difference.
Related Reading
• Employee Appreciation Day Ideas for Small Companies • Employee Appreciation Day Ideas for Large Companies
Build a Meaningful Employee Recognition Program With Ease with Giftpack's Client Gifting Service
Employee Appreciation Day is a golden opportunity to show your team how much you value their hard work and dedication. But let’s be honest, finding the perfect gift can be daunting. Enter client gifting service, the game-changer in corporate gifting. With a robust AI algorithm, we curate personalized gifts from a catalog of over 3.5 million products worldwide.
Think of us as your gifting concierge, ensuring each gift hits the mark. Whether your recipient is an employee, client, or VIP, we tailor the experience to their preferences, making it easy for you to forge meaningful connections.
How Giftpack Revolutionizes Employee Gifting
Imagine having a gifting assistant that knows your team’s preferences and selects gifts that resonate on a personal level. That’s Giftpack. Our platform analyzes basic demographics, social media activity, and digital footprint to offer a selection of gifts that feel handpicked.
The best part? It’s all done at the click of a button. With options sourced locally and globally, you’re not just sending a gift, you’re sending a message of appreciation that spans the globe.
Seamless and User-Friendly Gifting Experience
No one wants to wrestle with a complicated platform when they’re trying to show appreciation. Giftpack’s user-friendly interface makes the process a breeze. You can send a thoughtful gift without breaking a sweat.
Our global delivery ensures your appreciation reaches your recipient, no matter where they are. So why not give it a try? Explore Giftpack’s client gifting service for free today and make your Employee Appreciation Day memorable.
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