Friday 1st March 2024 is Employee Appreciation Day and is a perfect opportunity to thank your employees for their dedication, hard work and flexibility during the exceptionally challenging past few years. Here are just 7 ideas for how to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day this year.
7 Ways To Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day 2024
1) A little thank you goes a long way
Send an email to all staff to say thank you for their hard work and commitment - a heartfelt thank you may go a long way to helping your employees feel valued and to starting this new year together.
2) Celebrate achievements
Identify individuals, teams or projects that have gone above and beyond what was expected of them and highlight their achievements - maybe in an email, the company newsletter or at team or staff meetings.
3) Highlight the importance of your Employee's health and well-being
Remind your employees of all the wonderful ways you already support their health and well-being and encourage them to support their own and each other’s too. Maybe produce leaflets, a series of emails, posters, promotional gifts etc to highlight services, initiatives, policies and benefits already available to them - such as EAPs, sports memberships, clubs and general benefits that staff may have forgotten about. You often won’t know what your employees have been going through/are going through and when a reminder given at an opportune moment might provide just the support or encouragement they need at that moment.
The more you support the health and well-being of your staff, the more committed and more team building opportunities there may be - so small acts like encouraging tea breaks, lunch breaks away from desks, team walks or other well-being breaks may have unexpected bonuses too.
4) Hold a charity/fundraising event
Invite ideas from your employees to encourage team/cross company working and fun. Whether it’s a charity bake or a fun run, this may be an opportunity for your employees to be creative and it may even boost morale and encourage team building along the way. Having fun can also increase motivation and creativity so you never know what amazing ideas, opportunities or possibilities might arise from your staff interacting with others from different teams and engaging in a common goal.
5) Arrange team building events across your organisation
This could be anything from a team tea break, to a lunch or party or an organised team building event. Getting to know each other - particularly teams who have not had much time or opportunity to meet up face to face due to hybrid working - whilst having fun - could be a great way of building/ rebuilding teams and also boosting morale and well-being.
It may also be an opportunity for individuals who have felt quite isolated or have experienced changes or mental health issues to feel supported and more connected with others and have an impact on stress relief and general well-being too.
6) Incentivise your staff
Consider running a competition to encourage staff to share their learning points and ideas for possible changes or improvements from the past couple of years. Incentivise them with a bonus or a gift or competition prize for the best ideas/suggestions.
You never know when an unexpected idea might arise that could have a positive outcome on the future success of your business, whilst also giving employees an opportunity to have their say and feel part of the business.
7) Reward individuals, teams or all employees with a gift to say 'thank you'
This could be something small from a box of biscuits for a team, to individual gifts such as vouchers, sweet treats, well-being gifts, company merchandise or large sharing gift hampers. Large or small, sometimes showing you gratitude can have a bigger impact than words alone.
So, what will you/your organisation choose to focus on to say thank you to your employees this Employee Appreciation Day?
Looking for gifts to say 'thank you' this Employee Appreciation Day?
Here at Box of Hugs we can help you put together the perfect individual or group gift boxes or hampers for your employees or teams.
Here are just some great gift options to get you started whatever your budget.
You can choose from one of our 'Ready-made' Gift Box collection....
or tailor-make your own gift box or Hamper in our 'Build-your-own' section...
If you have any questions, or can't find quite what you're looking for, please contact us, we're here to help :-)
Lucy at: team@boxofhugs.co.uk or call 01480 839847
We look forward to working with you
Lucy, Anna and Sophie
Box of Hugs Founders and sisters
P.S. We're here for all your Employee/Team gift requirements throughout the year too - whether you're looking for gifts to say 'Welcome to the Team', thank you, well done, congratulations, happy birthday or anything else, we have a range of employee gifts to suit any budget and any occasion. We can tailor your gift boxes to your own requirements and include your own branding too. For more information please visit our corporate gifting page.