Today is Employee Appreciation Day -- the first Friday in March -- set aside to take a moment to do something special for your employees to let them know you care.

According to a survey by employee recognition firm O.C. Tanner, while 44 percent thought it was "extremely or very important" to recognize Employee Appreciation Day, only 8 percent knew when it was observed, and only 10 percent said that their current place of employment does anything to actually celebrate the day.

The good news is you can do something about that.

There's just no excuse for not taking the time to show appreciation to your employees for doing a good job -- especially on Employee Appreciation Day. Here are 51 simple, effective, and (mostly) inexpensive ideas to get you started.

1. Services of a personal chef for an evening

2. Gasoline gift card

3. Special name tag

4. Tickets for a baseball game

5. $50 cash

6. Upgrade airline ticket to first class

7. House cleaning service

8. Lottery tickets

9. Grocery store gift card

10. Karaoke party

11. Wash an employee's car

12. Serve lunch to your team

13. Have an after-work get together at a local restaurant

14. Starbucks gift card

15. Throw an office barbecue during lunch

16. Have a family day at the office

17. Magazine subscription

18. Bring in a masseuse once a month to offer neck and back rubs

19. Limo ride to the office

20. Ride in a hot-air balloon

21. Bouquet of flowers

22. Movie tickets

23. Day off with pay

24. Manicure/pedicure

25. Bagels or doughnuts for the office

26. Company stock

27. Afternoon at a local spa

28. Reserved parking space near the office front door

29. Supervisor for a day

30. Dance lessons

31. Serve coffee and refreshments to your team

32. Customized company T-shirt or jacket

33. Box of chocolates

34. Pancake breakfast

35. Hoagie day

36. Personal handwritten note of thanks

37. Engraved brass plate at employee workstation

38. Humorous certificate of recognition

39. Hot dog eating competition

40. Night in a luxury hotel

41. Dry cleaning service

42. Office decorating budget

43. Elvis day

44. Fortuneteller

45. Ice cream social

46. Thank-you email message

47. Field trip

48. Shopping spree at Walmart or Costco

49. Note of appreciation to employee's significant other

50. Company-paid iPhone

51. Verbal thank-you during team meeting