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There are two ways of doing employee appreciation.
Either you break the bank or you go budget-friendly. But there is no reason not to do it. Employee appreciation is a great way to humanize work and let your employees know that you appreciate them and not just the results they produce.
We have put together a list of employee appreciation ideas, and there’s something for every organization, be they small ones or big ones.
You don’t need to plan this event a week ahead and organize the trip, like how it used to happen back in school. You can surprise your team with tickets to the latest movie or even better, have a movie-afternoon right there in the office! Throw in some popcorn and soft drinks, and you are good to go.
This one would probably require you to plan ahead. And it works really well for small businesses or even small teams. A lot of online stores have very affordable and nice-looking gifts that can be brought in bulk. Finding a gift lying on their desks as a sign of appreciation from their manager is one great way to make employees feel like their manager does care about them.
Handwritten cards can work wonders. Again, not much planning is needed. You can also do it after coming to your office on the very same day. All you need is a bunch of empty cards, a pen and a heart filled with gratitude. Employees feel appreciated personally and this small act can go a long way. Write why each one of your employees is special to you and how much you appreciate their efforts and contributions to your organization.
Who doesn’t love food? Especially when it’s free! Throw a pizza party or organize a buffet at your office and make your employees feel special. Lunch with colleagues will make them feel engaged and give them a break from their daily work routine.
This one is going to need some effort. But it is going to be well worth the effort. Make a wall of fame in your office and list the names of all your employees and write about how their efforts contributed to your organizational success. This will be an entertaining and motivating way for your employees to be appreciated on employee appreciation day.
P.S: The wall of fame can be an ongoing employee engagement activity throughout the year.
Well, this is new and puts your creative brain cells to work (You need to do some serious shopping and exercise your creativity when choosing the gifts).
Create a wheel with a list of gifts written on it and have your employees spin it and choose their gift for the day. This is going to be a fun and engaging activity for employee appreciation day!
This requires a slightly higher budget and research, but its altruistic nature makes it one that people might enjoy participating in. Find out if your employees would like to support a cause and make a donation on their behalf and make them feel appreciated for being able to make a difference by donating to the cause. You can also take them out to participate and actively volunteer for a cause. Of course, you need to remember to not force anyone into participating.
You can set up video games or sports for a day in your office and encourage your staff to participate. It would be more entertaining if the games involve multiple players.
Employees can compete with each other and have fun. Another thing that you can do is make multiple teams and set time slots for every player and have a contest where you award the winning team.
When you feel that giving cash bonuses to your employees will lack the emotion behind the very idea of appreciation, gift cards are the best! You will also be saved from the whole gift buying process.
Just set a limit and give employee appreciation gift cards to your employees. There are many places out there that accept these gift cards and employees can also use the gift cards to make purchases online. You can know more about the creative ways of presenting gift cards here.
Do you want to know more about ways to appreciate your employees?
Request a demo to find out how Engagedly can help you with this.
