Employee Appreciation Day is this Friday 3 March, providing employers with two golden opportunities. First to have fun and celebrate your people on the day but also a reminder to review whether you are using recognition throughout the year to support your organisation’s strategic people goals.
While it has always been a good idea to frequently review whether your recognition approach is keeping up with changes to business and employee needs, this year it is more important than ever.
Drive business growth
Leaders have a laser focus on two business priorities, growth and talent retention and attraction. This means, employers have an urgent need to mobilise their workforce around a shared growth agenda.
Neither goal will be possible without a motivated and engaged workforce. Research shows, that staff who feel their contribution is consistently recognised and appreciated throughout the year are more likely to have a positive attitude to work, put in extra effort and stay loyal to their employer.
Now is a good time for employers to review whether their current recognition programme is driving the behaviours and values that support growth or whether you need to redefine what you value and celebrate with this goal in mind.
Effective hybrid work
It’s not just the “why” that employers need to review but the ‘how’ too. With many employers operating a distributed workforce and the rise in popularity of the four-day week, employers can’t assume it will always be possible to give recognition in person or that the action or behaviour worthy of recognition will be witnessed by line managers.
This matters because speed and visibility of recognition impact whether employees value the recognition they receive and the extent to which an employer can reinforce the behaviours and values it wants to encourage.
Recognition given shortly after the event and in full sight of peers has the greatest personal and business impact. To achieve both in a hybrid workforce, employers need to think digital first. Going one step further and enabling peer-to-peer recognition helps to counter any deterioration in working relationships, connections and collaboration that employers can feel working from different locations or in isolation at home.
Another consideration for a hybrid workforce where financial reward is attached to recognition is how to get it to employees in a fast and secure way. Reward added to pay tends get swallowed up by bills and lose impact. To overcome this, many employers choose to give employees vouchers which employees can receive and redeem electronically and buy something they need at a retailer of their choice.
All of these considerations can be met using a digital platform to administer your scheme with the added bonus, HR and managers can monitor use and intervene to encourage best practice and remedy any dips in engagement
Six ways to sensitively celebrate Employee Appreciate Day
Finally, if you are planning any special events to mark Employee Appreciation Day do so in a way that is sensitive to the cost-of-living crisis. In a year when most employers and employees are looking to avoid unnecessary cost, there are low-cost ways employers can say thank you and also support those struggling financially.
These ideas can be used to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day as well as throughout the year:
- A simple, sincere thank you from senior leaders and manager goes a long way
- Provide free meals for staff or help toward the cost
- Time off and or flexible working hours
- Learning and development opportunities to support work progression
- Wellbeing sessions or resources to boost financial, physical or mental resilience
- Where reward is attached to recognition, offer vouchers employees can redeem on essentials like food and groceries
This Employee Appreciation Day show your employees how important they are with Edenred’s employee appreciation platform, Connect Recognition.
