15 Ways to Show Employee Appreciation
Today, March 2nd, 2018 is National Employee Appreciation Day.
Your business would not run without your employees and today of all days you should say Thank You. But there are ways you can say Thank You today and all year long that will let your employees know you feel they are a value to your business and part of a team.
Here are 15 ways, some very low cost to give appreciation to your staff members.
- Have a group potluck lunch. You supply the main meal item, supplies, and drinks, and have everyone bring in a side or dessert. Put out the closed for one hour sign and enjoy each others company.
- Hand out Gift Cards to local fast food places, if taking time off together is not possible.
- Give a gas card to everyone for their own personal vehicle that they drive to work each day.
- Give a personal Thank you card to each employee with a small cash token of Thanks, for instance, $5-$10 for every year they have been with you,
- Hand out snack bags to everyone with things like candy, crackers, and peanuts, with little notes of thanks or encouragement. Cute things like “You’re a Life Saver” with a bag of lifesavers. “You’re flippin’ awesome” with Flips chocolate covered pretzels, “Thanks a million for being such a great employee” with a Million candy bar, etc.
- Have a meeting and hand out cute or funny appreciation cards or plaques; Best coffee maker, Always on time, Tells the best jokes, Best Upseller, Customer Favorite, Fastest Washer, etc.
- Start an employee of the month program. Rotate one person a month to give a few perks too; allow to come in or leave 15-30 minutes extra for one day, have a close-in labeled parking spot for the month, get to pick the place to have lunch catered in (can be from a pre-approved list). Or have it based on merit only.
- Have a once a month birthday cake brought in to celebrate everyone with a birthday that month, or even on each employee’s birthday if you have a small crew.
- Bring in Breakfast today or could be once a month for a scheduled meeting like a safety meeting or when staff is coming in early for a project.
- Order in Pizza or Subs for inventory day or when employees have to work through lunch or to stay late after work for dinner.
- Send employees to learning events, a trade show, a conference, or a seminar to learn or improve skills. Have a motivational speaker come in or hold a First Aid and CPR event for them to become certified.
- Hand out company logo items; insulated lunch bags, hats, shirts, mugs, jackets, and umbrellas, make it even more special by putting their names on the items.
- Individual certificates indicating numbers of years with the company, unframed or already in a frame, or number of years worked lapel pins.
- Tickets to a sporting or entertainment event they would like, plain movie pass tickets, or to local attractions like an amusement park, a zoo, or an aquarium.
- Special items for their desk or truck; a new chair or vehicle seat pad, mouse pad, pen holder, desk name plate, sunglasses holder, cup holder, clipboard, etc.
Even if you did not already make plans to do something today for your employees just speaking to each one and telling them how grateful you are and thanking them can make their day.
