The holiday season is a good time to think about offering your employees some well-deserved positive feedback. Workers are motivated by many factors besides their paychecks, so even if you need to keep your end-of-year expenses down, you can find great ways to validate your employees’ hard work. Here are five staff appreciation ideas that will brighten the holiday spirit at your office and help everyone start off the new year with fresh energy.
Create new opportunities for flexing schedules
According to the Center for Talent Innovation, the perk that means the most to employees of all ages is having some individual flex in their schedules. If you can reorganize the workflow to build in some new flexibility, employees will feel that you respect their needs as human beings and family members outside the context of the office.
Provide your staff with a chance to help others
If money is tight for your business, you can build employee morale by giving each staff member a modest sum and asking them to choose a charitable recipient for their donation. Harvard Business Review tested this notion of “prosocial bonuses” and employees receiving the ability to give to others reported more satisfaction with their jobs than an equivalent group did after receiving personal cash bonuses. Those charitable donations can be deducted from your company’s taxes later.
Participate in an office potluck lunch party
Rather than underwriting a restaurant meal for your staff, clear the calendars for an afternoon and decorate a meeting room or lunch room with a few seasonal items. Encourage each person to bring specialty foods for an office-wide potluck, and be sure that you and other managers take time to prepare something as well. Employees will feel personally valued if higher level staff actually put in the hours to prepare some good food, rather than simply buying a contribution.
Offer appreciation in writing
In his book, “1,001 Ways to Reward Employees,” motivational expert Bob Nelson reports that over 99% of employees find personal praise to be very important. Putting your appreciation into writing and personalizing it creates a long-lasting memento that will energize the employee every time they read it. Browse through PaperDirect’s blank certificates to find a design that perfectly conveys the appreciation that you want to express.
Arrange for praise from higher up
Good supervisors take care to offer appreciation on a relatively frequent basis — but how often does an employee have the experience of being recognized and thanked by one of the high-level executives whom they rarely see? Your staff members will feel truly appreciated if you can arrange for an upper-tier manager to personally stop by and express appreciation.
Shopping online at PaperDirect is a way to enter the holiday mood and get your creative juices flowing.
