By Randy
On Friday, March 5, 2021 it is National Employee Appreciation Day. Although it is not an official holiday, it should not take away from the importance of showing those you work with the gratitude you have for what they do to make the business successful. Should you want to show your team member’s gratitude, you can take it further than just one day, and to help you do this, we came up with five ways to do this: go very public with your gratitude, celebrate birthdays, celebrate milestones, allow teammates to give kudos to one another, and feed them.
- Go Very Public. There is the saying “reprimand in private, praise in public” which holds true, but when praising in public, go beyond just amongst the team and consider putting the achievement on the company social media pages. However, consider celebrating your team member beyond work responsibilities, for example, if a team member welcomes a new born child into their family, ask for a photo of the baby to post on social media to congratulate the team member.
- Celebrate Birthdays. This is something everyone has, and most like to celebrate their birthday. This can be done in many ways: have all of the managers sign a birthday card and present it to the team member on their birthday, you can post a picture of the team member on your social media pages wishing them a happy birthday, have a list of everyone’s birthday for the month posted in a break room where all can view it, or do a monthly birthday celebration where cake is brought in to sing happy birthday to those whose birthday it was in the month. Whichever one you choose or if you choose all, it is always a good idea to recognize a special occasion for any team member.
- Celebrate Milestones. A milestone can be a work anniversary or a new hire who has completed their probationary period. Just like the previous examples, these do not only have to be work related, consider graduations or any other achievement in the team members life. Celebrating the success of our team member can build loyalty and happiness, but it has to be done on time and not with delay. If it is a work anniversary, I have seen organizations that create pins specific to milestone years, such as 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year, these are given to team members when they have reached this anniversary. The hope is that the team member would be proud of where they work and the recognition of that is demonstrated by the wearing of the pin.
- Cheers From Peers. Some businesses have a suggestion box, but what about having a kudos box? It is always great to receive recognition from your fellow teammates, doing so can only make the team stronger. Management would have to monitor the box frequently so that there is continuous recognition. It is just another way to thank team members so that it can build loyalty. Appreciation does not only need to come from ownership/management, this can be a fun way to receive praise from another, and important, source.
- Feed the team. Whether it be a special lunch between boss and team member or buying a meal for the team members family, food is always a great way to show appreciation. Even if it is a monthly celebration, you can order in from a restaurant (Gaetano’s) and have your team enjoy great food once a month, however do it with purpose. If the team reached a sales goal collectively, feeding them as a group may be a great way to recognize their achievement.
No matter the case, it is always great to be able to recognize a job well done. It is important to be on time with the recognition and to make it genuine and sincere. When recognition occurs, team members are more apt to respond with consistent behaviors of what they are being rewarded for. Plus, it makes the work environment even more positive, which would never be a hinderance.
