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It’s almost the first Friday in March – are you forgetting something? Nope, it’s not your anniversary – phew! – or your youngest kid’s birthday, but it is one of the most important holidays of the year: Employee Appreciation Day!

And that’s one holiday you don’t want to forget! After all, the success of your business depends in large part on your employees’ performance, and happy workers who feel appreciated are a lot more likely to do a good job. Do you think your staff feels appreciated? Do you think their paycheck is “appreciation” enough? You may be surprised to learn that your team doesn’t view the workplace the same way management does.

Since it first appeared on calendars in 1995, Employee Appreciation Day has reserved the first Friday in March as a time for employers to officially acknowledge their employees’ hard work with more than just a regular paycheck. So don’t let Employee Appreciation Day slip by this year; instead, reward those rock star employees of yours with special recognition that lets them know just how important they are!

In almost every single workplace, there are employees who work hard day in and day out, never say “no” to anything that’s asked of them, never have an unkind word for anyone and just do their work. It is these employees who often get overlooked when it comes to giving an occasional pat on the back. They’d never point out something they did that went above and beyond the call of duty as that would be “tooting their own horn.” They just sit back quietly and read/hear about how wonderful the select few are doing.

Hand Write Some Kind Words

In a world dominated by e-mailing, texting and Tweeting, the handwritten note has gone by the wayside. Seriously, when was the last time someone took pen in hand and sent you an actual, handwritten note?

This phenomenon has resulted in two effects:

1. A widespread epidemic of truly terrible penmanship
2. Handwritten notes’ rare status means that they’re extra meaningful.

Fortunately, the “meaningful” part totally cancels out the sloppy handwriting part. So pick out some beautiful thank you cards and set aside an hour to write out some personalized notes telling your employees exactly why you value them.

Relax

Make an investment in your employees’ morale and hire a local masseuse or manicurist to come to the office on Employee Appreciation Day. They can go from office to office, cubicle to cubicle, performing their services in 10 or 15-minute increments. Just make sure your employees know that participation is voluntary!

Just Go Home!

If your company can afford it, make Employee Appreciation Day a half-day. Let your workers go home early that day to spend time with their families. Not many things say “thank you” quite as much as paid time off!

Whichever route you choose, it’s important to let your employees know how much you value their hard work. Even if you don’t have the time or means to hold a large celebration, even a certificate of appreciation will boost morale.

If your management team only speaks to employees when a mistake is made, you can be certain your employee morale is low. People may even dread coming to work. That can all be changed with a few kind words, a note, an early day out on a Friday or some other “privilege” that is earned. Think back to your last ten conversations with employees–how many of those ten interactions included a positive word or something that let the employee know you value him or her? If you’re hard-pressed to remember the last kind thing you said to a worker, then there’s a very good chance your employees are unhappy.

Start the new year off right by beginning the tradition of getting your employees a little something to mark their anniversary with the company. Beginning January 1, send the message that you care and that you appreciate their hard work by presenting employees with a gift on their date of hire anniversary. Employee anniversary gifts boost morale and raise productivity, studies show. PaperDirect has some great employee anniversary gifts to start the new year off right!

PaperDirect award certificates come in a variety of styles to suit what you’re looking for, and we offer free certificate layout templates for every design. For honoring an employee’s anniversary, you can include the employee’s name, date of hire and any other information you’d like to include. Whether your company’s big or small, these award certificates will be a great gift at the employee’s anniversary.

You can make your own certificates, too, with a little help from PaperDirect. Just use our easy online design tool, and we’ll print up your custom certificates! We offer full color printing, customizable front, 8.5″ X 11 size, free logo and image uploads, and we print and ship most orders in just 1-2 days! For ten custom certificates they’ll love, you pay just $6.99!

A handwritten note or thank you card is thoughtful and doesn’t take long to write. Instead of sending an email, take the time to write a personal note to the employee and mention something unique he has contributed to the company. This is much more meaningful than a generic email that reads “Happy fifth year anniversary. Thanks for all you do.” Write something that will let that employee know you truly appreciate the specific contributions he/she has made to the success of your company.

Be sure to shop online at PaperDirect for other employee anniversary gifts like trophies, plaques and motivational gifts like key chains and water bottles.

All employees remember the day they were hired, and it is important to acknowledge an employee’s dedication and service to you and your company on their anniversary.

If you are an office manager who has been asked to come up with some employee anniversary recognition ideas, or if you own a business and need some ideas about how to recognize your employees’ anniversaries, we have some ideas for you.

Whether it’s one year or twenty years, employee anniversary recognition is crucial and will be appreciated by the employee you honor, even if it’s just a small gesture.

Tips for Tracking

If you own or manage a large company, you should create some type of system to keep track of employees’ hire dates. Even if you manage only a few employees, it’s important to have an organized system to know the hire dates for everyone, from the mail room to the board room. Everyone’s anniversary should be recognized in some way.

The easiest way we have found is to add it to a Google Calendar and mark it to “repeat every year” This will keep it from creeping up on you.

Why Yearly Recognition?

While some employees are fortunate enough to get raises each year as a way of recognition, in tough economic times, a monetary reward is not always possible to recognize an employee’s anniversary. Instead, there are many other creative, inexpensive ways you can recognize an employee’s service that are meaningful and will be cherished by that employee for years to come.

Recognition Ideas

Think of an employee’s anniversary as a career birthday, so make your recognition sincere, meaningful and personal.

And while employee anniversary recognition does not have to be formal and costly, it must be genuine.

A handwritten note or thank you card is thoughtful and inexpensive. Instead of sending an email, take the time to write a personal note to the employee and mention something unique he/she has contributed to the company. This is much more meaningful than a generic email that reads “Happy third year anniversary. Thanks for your hard work.” Write something that will let that employee know you truly appreciate the specific contributions he/she has made to the success of your company. Employee recognition motivates and provides incentive for continuing hard work.

The Importance of Individual Recognition

Large companies often have a “group” celebration for anniversaries, but it’s much more thoughtful to acknowledge an employee’s anniversary separately.

On special anniversaries (five, ten or fifteen years) managers should mark the occasion with an extra special gift or recognition ceremony. It’s not necessary to spend exorbitantly, but keep in mind that your employees have contributed to your success and profit.

Why not give a little back by purchasing a nice gift?

When giving gifts to employees on their anniversary, do your research. Find out what your employees’ interests are such as hobbies, favorite restaurants, special talents they have, etc. This will make the employee anniversary gift more personal and will show the employee you took the time to find out a little bit about him or her. On the flip side, giving the employee a choice from a selection of gifts is a great way to keep your recognition program efficient and simple.

PaperDirect has an extensive line of recognition and motivation gifts and products. We have a vast array of award certificates, plaques and trophies for employee anniversary recognition.

Anyone who owns or runs a business knows that the employees of that business are the real backbone of the company. Product is important and so are customers but it’s the employees that sell the product, put the product together and get it out the door. Good employees are ones that stick with the company through thick and thin, doing everything they can for the company to make it stronger and better. Those are the employees that are dedicated to the company and will work there for years. One way companies recognize employees who have been there for a long time is to honor them on the anniversary of their hire date. Many times they’ll give them motivational gifts to commemorate the occasion.

Motivational gifts are great ways to honor employees who have put in the years for the company. Not only does it honor the occasion but it shows all the employees that dedication is appreciated. While some companies do a bonus based on the number of years worked, in today’s economy, bonuses aren’t always in the budget. The other downside to a bonus is that once it’s spent, the occasion fades in the memory.

But a motivational gift serves several purposes. As well as honoring the occasion and showing the employees that the company does care, it’s a reminder of the honor every time the employee sees it. If they keep the gift in their office or work area, it also serves as a reminder to all who see it that the company is grateful for dedication. And the gift being a motivational gift, which means it’ll have its own uplifting message as well.

Having a good employee recognition program is important in today’s work environment. Giving certificates of appreciation to those employees that have earned them is one aspect of a good program and motivational gifts are too. Employees want to know the company sees their efforts and little rewards like these, even though they may not be very expensive, are appreciated. Little things like this helps keep employees motivated to do a good job.

Check out the motivational gifts that are available and see how they can empower and uplift your employees. Keeping good employees doesn’t have to be a hard challenge, especially when you can give them the recognition and appreciation they deserve.