Appreciating Your Employees: The Employee Experience Matters Now More than Ever
To help turn “The Great Resignation” into “The Great Recognition,” give your employees a memorable experience this Employee Appreciation Day — and always.
Employee Appreciation Day is coming up on Friday, March 4. Rooted in the idea that employers and employees can develop a mutually trusting relationship that benefits the entire company, Employee Appreciation Day is an opportunity for employers to show gratitude and appreciation to their employees to help strengthen that relationship.
These days, though, appreciating employees goes much further than acknowledging them one day out of the year. Appreciation is now an integral part of creating a positive employee experience — and turning around “The Great Resignation” period we’re in. When employees have a good experience in the workplace — from their initial hiring and onboarding to their day-to-day job satisfaction to their interactions with coworkers and managers — they’re more likely to be committed to the company and help boost the company’s overall performance. In turn, the company sees greater long-term success and employee retention.
Here are a few in-office and virtual-friendly ways you can celebrate your employees on this Employee Appreciation Day — and throughout the year.
How to show appreciation & recognition
Make small gestures
A few small-yet-sincere gestures can really add up over time. Writing employees a handwritten note and giving it to them in person, leaving it on their desk, or mailing it to their home if they’re working remotely is a thoughtful idea. Or you can send an e-card. You can also implement a program that makes it easy for employees to encourage and recognize each other’s efforts anytime, such as through an online forum or internal chat tool.
Provide breakfast or lunch
Springing for a nice breakfast or lunch usually always goes over well with employees. Be sure to let them know you’ll be providing the meal so they don’t bring food, and ask about any allergies so that everyone has a menu option they can enjoy. For remote workers, you can offer a gift credit to any number of food delivery apps, like Doordash, Uber Eats, or GrubHub, so they can treat themselves to a meal on your dime.
Give a personalized or meaningful gift
Personalization goes a long way in our culture today, so coming up with a personalized gift for employees is sure to delight. Think about a coffee mug with the employee’s initials or their favorite quote inscribed on it, or some other customizable item such as a pen, notebook, or water bottle. Or, if you want to give the whole team a gift, consider a framed picture with everyone in it. You can either send each gift individually or hand them out in person.
Organize a dress theme day
One way to step outside the norm and have a little fun is to encourage employees to dress up according to a theme — think about superheroes, favorite characters from a movie, or an ‘80s dress-up day. Remote workers can do this as well, and if you organize a team-wide video conference, they can get a chance to show off their outfits too. It’s a chance for everyone to have a laugh or earn a smile, and boost morale in the meantime.
Host a social event or town hall
Another break from the norm is to host a social event where employees can learn more about colleagues they’ve never met before or haven’t spent significant time around. It’s a chance to help them build new work relationships and deepen company camaraderie. You can also host the event virtually so remote workers can participate. And you can add a food component to it as well by providing a meal or appetizers, or a gift credit to a food delivery app.
More ideas for employee appreciation
Need a few more ideas to add to the mix? The following links provide additional inspiration:
Turn the Great Resignation Into the Great Recognition
Many organizations tend to focus on the manager experience first and foremost, but it’s now more important than ever to hone in on the employee experience. One way to give employees a better experience is through an HR technology solution, accessible by mobile and desktop, that can help them complete onboarding and everyday tasks and get quick access to tax filing, paystub, and other documents — without needing assistance from HR staff. Another way to improve their experience is to give employees more transparency and clarity around their individual roles, which helps them understand how they contribute to the company’s overall culture and business objectives.
Keeping your workforce engaged, motivated, and on a path of development and growth is crucial. We are here to support you with efficient, accurate, and cost-effective workforce management solutions to help you achieve this. To learn more about SyncHR, click here.
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John is responsible for SyncHR’s product, engineering, and system operations teams. He is focused on streamlining the business processes related to HCM and finance by distributing SyncHR to all members of the workforce and by using patented security and workflow to control these developments. John is also responsible for delivering SyncHR as a cloud based application with “extreme ratio” financial metrics.
He has a background in engineering, workplace applications, and business administration, bringing over 25 years of experience deploying strategic HCM applications. Prior to co-founding SyncHR, John was the CEO of Harbor Technologies, since acquired by Mellon Financial Corporation. Previous to Harbor Technology Group, he spent an internship with the Swiss Bank Corporation in their derivatives pricing and trading group and also worked as a senior manager for the US Navy. John received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and his Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.