Do you have a group of hardworking employees at your company? How often do you show your appreciation?
While you may think that you’re already doing this by giving them their weekly paycheck, going the extra distance can really make a difference in your bottom line. Employees who feel appreciated at work are happier and, in turn, an average of 12% more productive than unhappy employees.
Employees who feel appreciated also have higher retention rates and are more likely to trust and respect their boss. So, how can you show your employees that you value them?
Luckily, there are tons of employee appreciation ideas to choose from. Keep reading to discover our top 10 ideas.
1. Recognize Them
When you hear the term “employee appreciation”, you may see dollar signs flashing in your head. But not all appreciation ideas have to cost a ton.
Something as simple as recognizing your employees for a job well done can do the trick. Send out a company-wide email singling out a few employees who went above and beyond recently.
If you’d rather take a more personal approach, write a hand-written thank you note and leave it on the employee’s desk. Also, be sure to acknowledge good ideas and exemplary performance at meetings.
2. Give Them a Gift Card
While thank you notes and emails are a great way to recognize employees, you can take this one step further. Include a gift card to Amazon or a local coffee shop for those employees who deserve a little extra treat.
3. Give Out an Extra Vacation Day
Who doesn’t love taking a little time off of work to relax? Not only does it make your employees happier, but it helps them feel refreshed and ready to work hard when they return.
A great way to show your employees that you value you them is to give out an extra vacation day. You can either give this out to everyone as part of a holiday gift or reward a department who has exceeded their goals or worked a lot of overtime.
4. Throw an Office Party
Office parties are a great way to help your employees relax while building a stronger sense of community within the company. It’s also a great way to thank your employees for working hard.
This doesn’t have to be anything big and overly expensive, either. You can order things like pizza, veggie and meat platters, and dessert. Just be sure you extend their lunch hour, so everyone has time to enjoy the party.
5. Host an Annual Staff Appreciation Day
If you want to take an office party to the next level, consider planning an entire day around employee appreciation. Throw a party and have fun activities planned for the day, such as bowling or roller skating.
This doesn’t have to be a full day either. You can still have them work during the first half of the day and plan all the activities during the second half.
6. Start an Employee Appreciation Program
When you run a large company, it can be hard to recognize individual employees. However, setting up an employee appreciation program will allow you to do just that.
Give employees points for things like working overtime, exceeding goals, and consistently meeting deadlines. Ask your department heads to give extra points for employees they see going above and beyond.
Then, have a list of gifts from Perfect Imprints that your employees can choose from. If you think the points system will be too hard to implement, you can also give out gifts for those who’ve been working with the company for 5 or more years, for example.
7. Celebrate Milestones
Throughout the years, your employees will reach many personal milestones. They may get married, buy their first home, have kids, and, of course, they’ll have a birthday each year.
Celebrating milestones with them shows that you’re a thoughtful and caring boss. Give them a gift card or other small gift for their birthday, as well as a baby shower gift or housewarming gift.
8. Stock the Break Room
Do you already provide free coffee in the break room? You can take this to the next level by stocking it with tons of snacks.
This could be a great way to end the quarter and thank your employees for helping the company meet all of their goals. While you could just leave it stocked for a few days or a week, restocking it for an entire month will really help your employees feel appreciated.
If you want to boost morale even more, consider redesigning your break room to make it a creative and relaxing place for employees to escape to.
9. Offer Half Days Before Holidays
It’s no secret that the holidays can be a stressful time. As soon as they leave work, your employees will find themselves busy shopping for gifts or decorating their home.
Help them relax and recognize the hard work they’ve done this holiday season by giving them a half day or letting them leave an hour early before a holiday. This can be especially important if the holidays are filled with tight deadlines and extra work at your company.
10. Provide Breakfast
It seems like every office has a few people who consistently come in early to get extra work done. If you notice this, consider surprising them with a free breakfast one day.
This can be as simple as bagels, donuts, muffins, and coffee, or you can go all out by making pancakes and eggs. You can personalize it even more by gathering those select few and asking them what they’d like or offering to take them out for breakfast on you.
Employee Appreciation Ideas
There’s no better way to boost productivity and employee retention rates than by recognizing good work. Just implement one (or a few) of these employee appreciation ideas and see what a difference it makes.
Are you thinking about letting some of your employees work from home? Then send these tips their way to help them stay productive while working remotely.
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