What impact does employee appreciation have on company culture? 🤔
Research by Quantum Workplace shows that employee appreciation is one of the biggest influencers of employee engagement and that those who feel they can expect recognition for their work are 2.7x more likely to be engaged!
Creating a culture of appreciation and recognition is a surefire way to:
- Encourage employee engagement and maintain employee retention rates.
- Improve productivity and encourage innovative thinking.
- Make a positive impact on the health and well-being of your virtual team.
Build a calendar of year-round employee appreciation with this template:
January
- Work Anniversaries: Celebrate employees who started in January. Include personalized messages and/or small tokens of appreciation.
- New Year Kickoff: Recognize team members who helped prepare for the new year (e.g., launching new initiatives, planning, or strategic work).
- Project Spotlight: Acknowledge significant project completions or efforts from the previous year that had a lasting impact and new projects underway for the year ahead.
February
- Q1 Progress Check-In: Celebrate progress toward quarterly goals at mid-quarter team meetings. Recognize early contributions that are driving success.
- Valentine’s Day Theme: Show appreciation with themed gifts or personalized “thank you” notes to show employees you value their hard work. Considering creating a team building experience that can be themed to the occasion such as a “Jam Making Class” in which you can say “It’s so sweet to work with you”
- Work Anniversaries: Recognize employees celebrating their February work anniversaries.
March
- Quarter 1 Wrap-Up: Highlight the achievements and milestones hit during Q1.
- Top Performers: Recognize individuals or teams who went above and beyond in Q1. Host a quarterly awards ceremony or shout-out session.
- Work Anniversaries: Celebrate the anniversaries of employees who joined in March.
April
- Project Milestones: Recognize completed projects from Q1 or those that hit key milestones in April. Public recognition through company meetings or newsletters.
- Employee Appreciation Day (March): Extend the appreciation into early April with fun activities or rewards if not celebrated the previous month.
- Work Anniversaries: Acknowledge employees celebrating April anniversaries with personalized recognition.
May
- Mid-Q2 Check-In: Recognize mid-quarter progress. Celebrate employees who’ve contributed to important projects or goals during Q2.
- Special Projects: Acknowledge individuals or teams who’ve completed complex or impactful projects during the first half of the year.
- Work Anniversaries: Celebrate employees marking their May anniversaries.
June
- Quarter 2 Wrap-Up: Celebrate the successful completion of Q2. Hold an awards meeting to acknowledge key achievements.
- Top Contributors: Recognize individuals or teams who were instrumental in hitting Q2 goals.
- Mid-Year Review: Offer broader recognition across departments as you review overall company progress.
- Work Anniversaries: Celebrate June work anniversaries.
July
- Project Milestones: Recognize any large projects or initiatives completed in the first half of the year. Celebrate teams that have wrapped up or hit significant targets.
- Mid-Year Team Building: Engage in team-building activities to celebrate collective progress and acknowledge contributions across the company.
- Work Anniversaries: Recognize employees with July anniversaries.
August
- Mid-Q3 Check-In: Take time to highlight employees contributing to mid-quarter successes.
- Peer-to-Peer Recognition Month: Encourage employees to give shout-outs to peers in team meetings or internal platforms.
- Work Anniversaries: Acknowledge employees celebrating their August anniversaries.
September
- Quarter 3 Wrap-Up: Host an end-of-quarter recognition event to celebrate Q3 achievements.
- Special Recognition: Highlight employees or teams who made exceptional progress or contributed to high-impact projects during Q3.
- Work Anniversaries: Celebrate employees marking their September anniversaries.
October
- Project Completion Month: Recognize teams and individuals who successfully completed major projects in Q3. Use a company meeting or newsletter to showcase these accomplishments.
- Mid-Q4 Progress: Celebrate progress made toward finishing strong in Q4. Highlight employees contributing to a successful year-end push.
- Work Anniversaries: Recognize employees celebrating October anniversaries.
November
- Thanksgiving-Themed Recognition: Use the Thanksgiving holiday to express gratitude to employees, particularly those who've gone the extra mile.
- Work Anniversaries: Celebrate November anniversaries.
- Q4 Contribution Check-In: Highlight employees who are driving results in the final stretch of the year.
December
- End-of-Year Celebration: Host a company-wide celebration to recognize year-long achievements, including top performers and standout teams.
- Quarter 4 Wrap-Up: Celebrate the completion of projects and the overall successes of the final quarter.
- Work Anniversaries: Acknowledge employees with December anniversaries.
- Annual Recognition: Hand out awards for key accomplishments of the year, such as "Employee of the Year" or "Team of the Year." Include fun superlative awards for team bonding.
Ongoing Recognition Ideas
- Weekly Shout-Outs: Encourage regular shout-outs during team meetings. It could be as simple as a "team MVP" or "best collaborator of the week" acknowledgment.
- Monthly Recognition Themes: Each month, highlight a different value of the company and recognize employees who exemplify that value.
- Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Make sure peer-to-peer recognition is integrated into daily workflows via tools like Slack, Kudos, or Bonusly.
4 activities for sharing employee appreciation:
1. Share employee recognition from the leadership team as well as other employees 💕
Your employees put a ton of effort into their work. To make your employees feel appreciated you don't have to shower your team with company swag all the time. One of the most effective and easiest things you can do is publicly (or anonymously) acknowledge your gratitude for them. At the same time, you need to ensure your team appreciation is genuine and personal.
As an effective leader, it’s your responsibility to ensure each team member knows you see their contributions and strengths. So don’t hold back! 👏
- Tell people when they’ve done great work and the ways their efforts helped the company. 📣
- Offer virtual employees recognition publicly among their colleagues and invite employees to also express peer-to-peer recognition and congratulate a person’s hard work.
- Share public recognition in a company-wide meeting, during company announcements, or even in email blasts! 💌
Even the best leaders can fall into the habit of only pointing out groups' accomplishments and not applauding individual efforts. Build the best manager-employee relationship with individual, specific praise. Employees want to feel special, and they deserve credit for their achievements. Always being lumped together can be pretty demoralizing. 😅
How to get started 👉 In Workplace Gratitude, employees can enjoy an interactive presentation of anonymous praise while connecting with their colleagues in the process!
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2. Give virtual employee appreciation gifts 🎁
Yes, that’s right, an actual gift. The more personalized to your employee, the better!
At Confetti, we ensure an employee appreciation gift is given on days specifically associated with the individual. Our main giving days are work anniversaries and birthdays.
Of course, big team-wide gifts and care packages are always welcome. If you want to give everyone something for the upcoming employee appreciation holiday, consider treating the crew to team meal delivery credits or a team lunch, or a gift card, so they can treat themselves to whatever they’d like!
As we mentioned, people want to feel special. Giving employees personalized gifts ensures that the person knows we’re rewarding them and their accomplishments. Check out our guide to corporate gift-giving for more insight into the policies we’ve found to work.
How to get started 👉 Reward virtual employees with an Online Gift Card!
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3. Put a creative spin on happy hours ✏️ 🍸
Surely, you've thrown many company-sponsored virtual happy hours, and for good reason! A happy hour provides that special opportunity to kick back at the end of the day or week with our colleagues, where we can leave remote work behind and connect about our personal lives.
Here's a great virtual employee appreciation idea, elevate your happy hour with an interactive activity! Try taking a virtual mixology class together, where you can enjoy your drinks and learn something together in the process.
Here's another idea to boost team spirit: combine your happy hour with an art activity, like an interactive blind-drawing class, where everyone can enjoy their beverage of choice while having some hearty laughs with their colleagues.
Why is this a fantastic virtual employee appreciation activity with remote employees? Adding an out-of-the-box activity to your virtual happy hour is a great way to boost creativity, a skill set that's highly expected in employees, but isn't always invested in.
How to get started 👉 Let loose in Drink and Draw!
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4. Have a good time 🥳
Here's an employee appreciation idea: take a break from work and professional development events and enjoy the company of your colleagues with a team building game. You know what they say: all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Bring some work-life balance to the office by having some fun with your team!
There's no better way to foster connections between team members than breaking up the day-to-day with entertaining, engaging events. Plus, employees who feel like they're encouraged to have fun at work experience higher job satisfaction, which leads to increased employee retention!
Team building activities have the most impact when they're fun and engaging, so why not throw a virtual office olympics game night for your remote team?
If your team isn't the gaming type, offer your remote employees a virtual group fitness class or a cooking class!
Why is this a fantastic virtual employee appreciation activity for remote employees? Holding regular events helps you get to know your colleagues as people, not just as employees. Having that connection in the workplace boosts employee morale and makes your remote team members feel seen, one of the most critical aspects of employee appreciation.
How to get started 👉 Treat your remote workers to some laughs in an Office Olympics!
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Show appreciation to all of your employees with Confetti! 🥳
Encourage your entire team and show them they're valued on Employee Appreciation Day and beyond. Use the virtual appreciation ideas in this article as a guide going forward and refer back to them as you revitalize your company's internal gratitude efforts to improve your company culture and boost the employee experience.
Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day on March 1st with an event from our Employee Appreciation Day collection!
