This Friday, and every year on March 4th, is Employee Appreciation Day. It’s a time to recognize your employees and demonstrate how much you appreciate them.

We aren’t going to spend any time on this blog explaining why this is important, because we think it’s perfectly stated in a previous post. Click for how employee appreciation translates to making customers happy.

Employee Appreciation Ideas by Budget

Sample prices calculated for company of 20 employees. Multiply quote by 2.5 for 50 people, multiply by 5 for 100 employees, etc.

FREE

• Get everyone outdoors. Go out for a nice walk or picnic lunch at a local park. Of course it’s always nice if lunch is “on the house”, but if it’s not in the budget, simply taking your team on a de-stress walk and spending a couple minutes thanking them for their hard work will prove to be an unexpected mid-day boost.
• Change the uniform for a day. Have everyone dress up for a theme – superheroes, royalty, movie characters, decades, a pajama, or toga party. You can vote on the best-dressed.
• Hand out fun employee appreciation titles. If you have a small company, you might be able to give everyone a title. We love these fun titles from www.blog.funawards.com, and www.funnyawards.com:
  • The Duct Tape Award- For being able to fix just about anything
  • Office Quarterback Award- For best at handing off work
  • Swarm of Locusts Award- For devouring the breakroom buffet
  • One More Think Award- For Most Likely to Extend Meetings
  • 99% Perspiration Award – For willingness to put in the hard work

Under $100

• Hand-written notes. Express why you appreciate your employees and their efforts. This idea is just the cost of a pack of thank you notes, but speaks multitudes by allowing you to share specifically what you value about your employees. It may be one thing that you write for each associate, but your feedback will show that you are noticing their hard work. Here is a 50-pack we found on Amazon for just under $17.
• Company treasure hunt. Either in the office or in the surrounding area – have fun with clues and fun prizes.
• Have group yoga sessions. Yoga can help your employees relax, meditate and learn to breathe. This is great during times of stress, especially while they are working. Hire a corporate yoga instructor who visits work sites to increase employee engagement, productivity, and heath for local businesses! Entrepreneur.com just did a story on corporate yoga company, Chakra 5 in LA, if you are interested in hearing more about this idea. They charge $100 for a 30 minute session, but check your area for a service like this and for pricing.

$100-$500

• Show your appreciation with food. Take your employees out to an extended lunch, or order in some food and have a pizza party. Bring in a catered breakfast, or a couple boxes of bagels and cream cheese. Provide tasty treats such as cupcakes, cake, cookies, or donuts. At around $12/person, it’s $240 to feed an office of 20.
• Create an employee sports league. From baseball to volleyball or even bowling. Sports teams bring about a sense of camaraderie and fun. Depending on your budget, you might be able to afford jerseys for each employee at around $20 each. For a company of 20 people, this is $400. 
• Provide in-office services. Treat them like royalty with some well-deserved pampering – massage therapists, manicurists, car washers, errand runners, hair stylists, whatever works best for your office. To provide 15 minute chair massages for an office of around 20 people, www.incorporatemassage.com says it will run you between $200-$500.
• Offer adult education classes – language courses, dance lessons, cooking or art classes. Rosetta Stone even offers corporate rates for online language learning in multiple languages.

What Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines says about employee appreciation and it’s effect on leadership performance.

Comment below on your ideas for Employee Appreciation Day and how you will celebrate. Suggestions also welcome from employees!