13 February, 2023
Employee Appreciation Ideas for 2023
Workforces across the globe are abuzz with excitement, as the official Employee Appreciation Day is just a few days away. Falling on March 3, 2023, it could be slated as the perfect opportunity to thank and motivate your employees by curating recognition experiences that are fun, heartfelt, and memorable. The enthusiasm of stepping foot into the new year coupled with anticipation for the upcoming employee appreciation season; there couldn’t be a better time to plan and execute your year-round appreciation activities with sure-fire vigor! A Gallup research has highlighted the importance of engagement and appreciation, because businesses with highly engaged teams outperform peers by nearly 150% in earnings per share. Furthermore, in the midst of the great resignation, initiating and professing appreciation where and when it’s due can help create a culture where employees want to stay longer, do better, and traverse the extra mile.
To paraphrase the acclaimed French philosopher Voltaire, ‘Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.’
Remodeling employee appreciation to keep up with changing times
The employee-workplace scenario has undergone tremendous change, compelling business leaders to nurture organizations that engage employees as passionate, creative, and worthy contributors. The lack of physical togetherness curtails the limits of appreciation, hence, employee appreciation methods and processes need to go through a metamorphosis to keep up with the rapid transformations that have occurred over the past year.
Taking this into account, appreciation and recognition needs to be personal, specific, and timely in order to be deemed effective, robust, and meaningful. This blog is your ultimate guide to worthwhile appreciation ideas that can up the ante for your organization whilst revitalizing employee commitment.
Thoughtful employee appreciation ideas for 2023
An employee recognition program is a proven way to boost morale, minimize attrition, and increase engagement- when it comes to retaining and nurturing talent, it’s hard to beat a clever, personalized gesture of appreciation. However, most of the recognition efforts come across as inauthentic or self-serving in recent times, therefore, now is the time to get creative, make your recognition program timely and tailored to the workplace, and have a robust appreciation model in place.
1. Fetch appreciation from your leadership team
It’s important for employees to hear from their leaders; a heartfelt message from the CEO or a personal note from the manager can go a long way in exhilarating your employees. Case in point, 28% of employees believe the most memorable recognition comes from their manager, while 24% want to be recognized by a high-level leader or CEO. Have leaders craft messages that let employees know that their contributions deem them worthy of gratitude and how it transpires to the success of the organization.
2. Recognize all employee facets- Remote, in-office, and hybrid
Whether your employees work in the office, remotely, or in a hybrid model; it is vital to ensure that your appreciation efforts reach everyone indiscriminately. Planning a celebration in the office should be accompanied by dedicated efforts to include remote workers as well through virtual team meets and equalized distribution of rewards, recognitions, and points across all employee facets.
Send a heartfelt emailed note, have a townhall session to celebrate team successes, provide lunch or digital experience vouchers, deliver a personal gift to their homes- there are countless ways in which a holistic appreciative culture can be invoked.
3. Celebrate noteworthy occasions
Occasions such as birthdays, work anniversaries, and familial developments offer the best opportunity to invigorate and elevate employees’ self-worth. Leverage a digital engagement platform to plan, execute, and celebrate special events through collaboration tools.
4. Encourage physical and mental wellness
An impactful but rather underrated way of bestowing appreciation is by keeping a check on employees’ well-being. Bearing in mind that your employees might need an extra push to get them on their feet amidst remote and sedentary lifestyles, employee wellness can be encouraged by adopting a digital engagement platform. Streaming live sessions and virtual talks by wellness professionals, organizing group events with physical activities through employee surveys and polls, and provision of physical health based benefits such as pharmacy vouchers, home-based wellness services are a few ways of showering your employees with affection and care.
5. Personalize your rewards
Broad-based acts of employee appreciation have their own place in an organization; but 2023 brings with itself a pressing need to personalize and make employees feel individually known and recognized. Custom merchandize and gifts incorporated with a personal touch and weaved into an appropriate gifting cycle is no doubt, a strong indication of an appreciative culture.
Appreciate often, not just one day!
While striking the balance between the soft and hard aspects of the workplace may feel challenging, being patient and implementing feedback on employee appreciation/ recognition ideas will pay off in worker satisfaction. A digital R&R platform can enable tracking of each initiative through analytical reports and insights. Also noteworthy is that great talent management processes are agile, and having the right systems in place gives companies the ability to seamlessly adjust to the workforce’s shifting needs and build appreciation frameworks that align with contemporary trends.
Employee appreciation is a much bigger facet than a day or week. Expressing gratitude, giving thanks, and applauding good work are indispensable pillars to erecting a distinguished organization with influential characteristics. This list can serve as a powerful foundation to plan employee appreciation activities throughout the year- as appreciation cannot be limited to just one day!
Connect with us to find out how an employee engagement platform can assist in realizing your appreciation efforts!