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.
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
