Every Day is Employee Appreciation Day: Tips to Boost Morale
Some at home. Some in the office. Some splitting their time between the two. Cultivating a sense of culture, community and togetherness in the hybrid workplace is more important than ever. A Buffer survey found that one of the biggest challenges faced by remote workers is loneliness. March 4 might be Employee Appreciation Day, but now it’s even more important than ever to boost morale, and retain valuable employees every day. With a little creativity in presentation, promotional products can be a great tool to connect and let employees know you see them going above and beyond. Here are some tips for a stellar program.
Inject Some Humor
There’s a lot of negativity in the headlines and employees don’t want to hear “these unprecedented times” from advertising campaigns one more time. We could all use a little laughter, so inject some humor into your gift. Even if your company culture leans towards conservative, it’s ok to show some personality – particularly on Employee Appreciation Day. If there’s a way to add company terms or HR slogans into the puns, even better!
Hot chocolate bombs are already a fun trending gift. Add Mrs. Fields Cookies AND mug that reads ‘You’re The Bomb’ like our Mrs. Fields Mug, Cookies, Hot Chocolate Bomb Gift Set to start your employee appreciation festivities with a bang! Nothing brings on the warm and fuzzy ‘let’s get together and sing kumbaya’ feelings quite like s’mores. Drop them in a “punny” snack tube that reads, ‘We Need S’more Employees Like You’ like our Need S’more Employees Like You, and they’ll melt. If you’re looking to cut the tension after a big project, a soothing aromatherapy candle in recycled glass with bamboo lid sporting the saying “Your Scent-Sational like our CW5300 is just the thing to bring the Zen.
Little Surprises = Big Feels
Appreciation and recognition don’t always require grand statements. Sometimes a little unexpected can really brighten an employee’s day. Chocolate is a favorite employee appreciation gift, but let them smash chocolate filled with candy surprises like gummy bears, candy hearts, nonpareils or gummy hearts. Our Smash Chocolate line comes complete with a mallet, so they’ll be a smashing success.
For those looking to make a big splash, the iconic workplace break room treat, the donut, reimagined as a cocoa bomb like our Donut-Shaped Hot Chocolate Bomb will have them swimming in warm cuddly feelings.
Sometimes the little surprise is receiving a personalized box on their desk at the office, or in their mailbox. Our Sea Salt Caramels in Full Color Custom Box is always a favorite. Featuring our iconic dark chocolate and milk chocolate sea salt caramels, tucked in a full color personalized box – it’s the perfect touch of unexpected they will love a whole choco-lot!
Spread Some Virtual Happy Hour Cheer
With fully remote and hybrid working models becoming the new norm, the corporate happy hour has gone virtual. Since the company card hasn’t gone virtual too, give them “drinks on us” through our Cool Down Cocktail Kit. Equipped with a tumbler that keeps drinks hot or cold for 8 hours, a bag of snack mix, a mango tini cocktail mix, and a personalized cooler duffle bag they can bring the party everywhere. Mix in some virtual trivia, or other team building games and the combination is sure to raise spirits and glasses. Added bonus for those remote employees – receiving something in the mail breaks up the daily routine.
Retaining key employees during this evolving business terrain is vital to success. That’s why a fun and playful employee recognition program full of goodies is a terrific, although unconventional business tool. Today’s smiles can lead to years of dedicated service.
