Does your organization observe Employee Appreciation Day? Once a year on the first Friday in March, many employers take time to celebrate the commitment and contributions of their staff members. The goal is to boost workforce morale and engagement in meaningful ways. So why wouldn’t every company make this a priority?
Some leaders might wonder if it’s worth the effort. After all, it is only one day. Appreciation is most effective when employees experience it on a regular basis. But if you truly care about your team members, why wouldn’t you seize this day as one of many opportunities to recognize them?
This article looks at why gratitude transforms work cultures, how Employee Appreciation Day can help, and what you can do to make the most of this special occasion.
Why Employee Appreciation Day Matters
In today’s turbulent work environment, employees want more than just a paycheck. They want a sense of connection and purpose. They want to know they’re part of an important, common mission. This is why recognition is crucial, not just on Employee Appreciation Day but throughout the year.
Ongoing recognition helps reinforce a sense of accomplishment and belonging. Along the way, it fosters a healthier, more productive workplace by building resilience in individuals and teams across the organization.
However, workplace culture is more than just a simple extension of everyday social interactions. According to research, “The organizational context introduces a unique set of constraints and affordances that influence how individual employees feel, think, and act on a daily basis.”
When events like Employee Appreciation Day inspire collective gratitude, the outcomes affect the company as a whole, from organizational wellbeing and performance to social responsibility.
Prioritizing employee appreciation is important for morale, too. When people feel heard and recognized, they tend to be happier, more satisfied, and more willing to acknowledge others. Appreciation is also a top driver of employee engagement, which in turn elevates productivity and retention.
And now, with remote and hybrid at the forefront of the “how we work” conversation, appreciation plays a more strategic role than ever in shaping organizational culture. That’s why smart leaders understand the value of consistently recognizing people and expressing genuine appreciation for their efforts, no matter where or when they may be working throughout the day.
The Benefits of Gratitude
As a foundation for employee recognition, gratitude is a tremendously powerful force. By encouraging everyone in your organization to share appreciation, you’ll see multiple benefits. For example, gratitude can:
1. Boost Happiness and Health
Gratitude is a positive emotion we feel when we give or receive something we value. Science shows that grateful people feel happier. This emotion also:
- Helps connect people
- Enhances social and emotional wellbeing
- Improves focus, motivation, and resiliency
2. Elevate Engagement
The modern workplace is seeing a persistent decline in employee engagement. According to Gallup, only 32% of the U.S. workforce is consistently engaged with their work. And disengagement fuels turnover. In 2021, 74% of disengaged workers sought new employment. A culture of gratitude gives people a reason to be more deeply invested in an organization’s mission and vision. This moves disengagement and turnover in a positive direction.
3. Improve Productivity
A Glassdoor survey found that 81% of employees are willing to work harder for an appreciative boss. Other research says employees who practice gratitude take fewer sick days. Organizations that prioritize employee recognition create a more positive, productive work environment, which in turn, leads to better business outcomes.
4. Promote Human Connection
When leaders connect personally with their people, engagement improves. Employees who feel strongly connected with their direct managers are more proactive and prosocial. And peer-to-peer appreciation can have an even more beneficial business impact.
5. Increase Collaboration
Expressions of gratitude have a radiant effect — individuals become more trusting and willing to help each other. Because gratitude is a complex social emotion, it draws people together to pursue a shared vision. Gratitude enhances a sense of social worth, and feeling valued makes people more helpful, supportive, and collaborative. When gratitude flows freely within and across teams, cooperation and collaboration improve, which opens the door to a high-performance culture.
6. Reinforce Resilience
Gratitude helps people prepare for the stress that accompanies conflict, change, and failure. It is associated with “a higher level of learned focused resilience” and a lower risk of stress. As a regular practice, gratitude builds a kind of psychological immunity. According to gratitude expert, Robert Emmons. “There is scientific evidence that grateful people are more resilient to stress, whether minor everyday hassles or major personal upheavals.”
10 Proven Ideas for Employee Appreciation Day
Organizations aren’t created equal. When planning Employee Appreciation Day activities, it’s important to develop a plan that fits your culture, goals, and resources.
Below are 10 ideas other organizations have found successful. Try one or more of these suggestions. Those that are well received could become an annual tradition for your company. Or they could become a cornerstone for appreciation programs you continue all year long:
1. Personal Praise From Leaders
Whether spoken or written, words matter. Ask every executive to take inventory and extend a genuine thank-you to team members who have gone above and beyond in big or small ways. The message can be delivered as a handwritten note, a personal email, or a video. But whatever the form, be sure the communication is personalized, specific, and timely.
2. Honor Unsung Heroes
Thoughtfulness has an impact, and small acts of gratitude have a ripple effect. Encourage everyone in your organization to seek out and recognize someone who works quietly behind the scenes. For example, you could establish an online forum where anyone can acknowledge others who deserve a moment in the sun. You could even allocate monetary incentives to those who give or receive recognition. Regardless, making it possible to publicly recognize others’ efforts is a meaningful endeavor.
3. Personalize Benefits With an LSA
Learn about your people and recognize their interests in highly personalized ways through a Lifestyle Spending Account (LSA). LSAs are rapidly gaining popularity among employers as a flexible benefit resource for employees. This is an excellent way to demonstrate that your organization values and supports team members as individuals.
4. Establish (or Enhance) a Formal Recognition Program
When thoughtfully planned and implemented, an employee recognition program can be a powerful performance incentive that engages people and generates goodwill. The reward possibilities are limited only by your imagination, from additional paid time off and employee-selected gifts to intangibles designed for each recipient.
5. Host a Special Team-Building Activity
Especially if your organization includes remote and hybrid workers, hosting a team-building event can help people bond and feel more aligned with one another and with your company. Activities can range from structured onsite group challenges to casual offsite gatherings focused on collaboration and fun. For example, you could plan a low-key field trip to a nearby museum, movie or sports event. Then cater a group meal. To get buy-in from employees, solicit their ideas and ask them to vote for their favorite.
6. Focus on Mental Health
In recent years, work-related stress and burnout have been soaring. You can reduce this risk by kicking-off (or expanding) a dedicated wellness program. Start by scheduling several brief breaks into the work day for stretching, breathing, and walking. Invite experts to lead group activities such as yoga, meditation, and resilience training. Pair this with a thoughtful gift centered on self-care to mark the start of a more resilient team!
7. Volunteer Together
One of the most effective ways to spread feel-good vibes is for employees to spend time together volunteering. Your whole organization will benefit from offering hands-on help in your community. For example, you could arrange to sort groceries at a food bank, clean-up a public space, or sponsor a youth sports team. The idea is to build a sense of personal satisfaction and camaraderie that comes from stepping up and giving back.
8. Plan a Surprise Day Off
Why not reward every employee with a “free pass” to spend a day in whatever way they’d like? You can announce this reward in advance so people can plan ahead and build excitement around their time away. But the goal is to offer an unexpected respite from work activities, so everyone comes back rested and recharged.
9. Develop a Living Gratitude Journal
By sharing gestures of gratitude, every employee adds depth and dimension to your work culture. You can encourage this by helping people adopt a simple daily practice of sharing thanks for something or someone they appreciate on an employee engagement platform or collaboration forum. This can be particularly helpful at keeping distributed team members connected and in the loop. You can even add reminders, alerts, and leaderboards to keep this living showcase top of mind.
10. Write an Open Thank You to Your Team
In a world where everyone is moving at warp speed, taking the time to write an open thank you letter can be a beautiful way for team managers to celebrate the helping hands behind their success. Letters make it easier to share thoughts more fully and authentically than texts and email messages. So no matter what else your organization does to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day, be sure managers reach out with a personal note.
Employee Appreciation: How Will You Celebrate?
Your people are your competitive advantage. They show up every day to support your mission, vision, and values. They deserve to be celebrated early and often. And, as these suggestions prove, showing gratitude doesn’t need to be complicated.
People naturally want to feel valued for their hard work and commitment. They want to know they’re making an impact. Recognition tells them you’ve noticed. So why not show your workforce how much they matter? With a little creativity, you can make Employee Appreciation Day fun and rewarding for everyone. And a little extra effort, you can reinforce that feeling all year long.
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