Celebrate the coworkers
helping you thrive.
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Appreciate your team in a meaningful way.
It feels awesome to give appreciation, and even better to receive it. When you see and value your employees, like with a personal appreciation message, you’re building trust and fostering a true sense of belonging at your company.
Our challenge to you: take that singular act of sending an employee appreciation note and amplify it into a year-round effort. Show your coworkers, teammates, and employees that they’re valued. Fulfill the craving we all have for meaningful human connection in our remote work world. Don’t relegate your employee appreciation efforts to only one day out of the year!
Understanding the relationship between appreciation and recognition.
Employee appreciation and recognition might feel similar, but they actually come to life in different ways, and for a variety of celebration occasions.
Let’s walk through the key differentiators:
Employee appreciation and team-building.
Employee appreciation should be part of your daily or weekly routine—it should feel easy, low-stress, and personal. And, it can often require little to no expense because appreciation can simply start with an authentic, verbal “thank you.” It’s a great way to show others that you see their hard work and value their efforts. It can come to life through public shout outs on Slack or live at your company all-hands, written in a personalized note or email, or even as team-building activities for appreciating groups.
Here are a few ways that you can foster a culture of year-round employee appreciation at your company:
Celebrate wins, big and small.
As employees live your company values at work, give them a shout out. If they’re leading by example on the team, celebrate their initiative. When they achieve results towards a major goal or OKR, toast their success. It doesn’t matter if the win is big or small—take the opportunity to show them their work is seen, their contributions are valued, and their unique personalities are appreciated. Appreciate them publicly during a company all-hands meeting, privately with a sincere “thank you,” or get creative in a way that suits your team’s culture best.
Unleash your inner chefs.
Many of us miss snacks and catered lunches from the in-office days (*daydreams of free kombucha*). But what we really miss isn’t the food—it’s the shared connections over food. Bring this lost sentiment back into the spotlight by hiring a pro chef or inviting employees to lead a cooking class. Frame it as a fun respite from the day-to-day workload and watch as conversation flows like salt from the hand of Salt Bae himself. Or, consider redirecting your in-office perks budgets into more remote-friendly activities and opportunities for employee recognition. We’ve got tons of ideas for reimagining your office perks budget here on our blog.
Bring self-care to the home office.
In a world where our lives are dominated by digital communications, a snail-mail care package can be a delightful way to celebrate employee wellbeing. Send your employees a package that contains small self-care gifts like family games, hot chocolate packets, tea kits, or a pair of warm socks. Encourage them to take a relaxing night in by hand-delivering good vibes to their doorstep. You can also offer guided meditation sessions or yoga classes (by a pro, or employee-led) in lieu of a full care package—namaste.
Recognizing above and beyond performance, and milestones.
Employee recognition focuses on celebrating someone’s major milestones, achievements, and above and beyond performance. It should be a priority that runs in tandem with your employee appreciation efforts in order to increase engagement, improve retention, and build positive company culture.
Recognition programs, like those we offer at Blueboard, are well worth the investment. Beyond the metrics above, recognition programs empower managers to connect in authentic ways with their team. They reinforce what great work looks like at your company, whether goal-oriented or culture-related (i.e. celebrating employees living your company values).
Some of our favorite ways to recognize your rock stars include:
Anniversary rewards.
A company anniversary is a critically important moment in an employee’s journey with your company. The way you celebrate their loyalty and achievements shows them how important their contributions are to the overall organization (reinforcing their sense of purpose).
What would you rather get for your one-year anniversary: a gift card or an in-home sommelier experience, kite-surfing lesson, or luxury massage? These are just a few of the awesome experiences we bring to life at Blueboard to celebrate employee anniversary milestones, as soon as year one.
President’s Club and sales incentives.
The traditional President’s Club model has changed forever in the wake of COVID-19. But while the major group trip might be off the table, your top performing sales reps are still cranking out numbers and deserve to be recognized for their hard work.
Maintain the sentiment of President’s Club by awarding them with luxury experiences they can use right now: bucket-list travel for individuals or families, in-home golf simulators, Peloton fitness packages, and so much more.
Spot recognition and values rewards.
Spot recognition recognizes an employee’s specific behaviors, contributions, or major milestones. Think of it as a way you can signal what great work looks like across your company and inspire that repeat behavior.
One of the most popular ways to introduce spot recognition is to root it in your company values, by creating a values rewards program. Empower your managers to recognize employees when they bring your core values to life through their hard work, collaboration, or customer relationships. Learn how we can help.
“The feedback has been phenomenal, we couldn’t imagine how much our employees would love Blueboard. We’ve had employees take flying lessons, learn a new language, family vacations—if you can dream it, they’ve been doing it. It’s very exciting for us. It gives people the chance to invest in something they wouldn’t normally do if the company hadn’t provided the opportunity.
Read more about Glaukos' anniversary program 
What does unforgettable recognition feel like?
Blueboard is an employee recognition platform powered by hand-curated experiences. We make it easy for companies to give meaningful employee rewards, incentives and gifts—from one-of-a-kind to once-in-a-lifetime experiences. What does unforgettable recognition feel like? Watch some of our favorite moments below and browse our experience menu.
Browse our full experience menuIdeas for celebrating Employee Appreciation Day all year round.
Whether you’re looking for fresh employee appreciation ideas or tried and true strategies to expand the scope of your current efforts, we’ve got everything you need. Use our library of resources to power year-round employee appreciation at your company.
Employee Recognition: Why it Matters Right Now and How to Make it Count [Webinar Recap]
National Employee Appreciation Day: 8 Fresh Ideas for Celebrating Your Team
The Difference Between Employee Compensation and Appreciation
The Power of Authentic Appreciation [Webinar Recap]
Looking for the best way to reward, recognize and incentivize your top people?
Connect with our team for a personalized demo of our recognition and rewards platform and see our hand-curated experience menus.
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