The Best Employee Appreciation Day Ever

It’s one thing to say “thanks” to employees who are putting in 110 percent. It is another thing to throw a party for your staff, showing them how much you care with fun and festivities.

Employee Appreciation Day is fast approaching, and if you want to wow your workforce — and encourage them to keep up their peak performance — you should throw them the best workplace party they’ve ever seen. However, to ensure your event truly recognizes the work of your tireless team, you need to learn the following tips and tricks.

Determine Your Budget

This should be your first task whenever you consider a new business project, whether that project is client-focused or for the benefit of your staff. Your budget will determine how much you can spend on food, drink, decorations, and entertainment, so it is useless to brainstorm before you have a concrete idea of the dollars and cents you can spend. Likely, this will require you to approach the accounting department and shuffle some cash from one party fund to another. If necessary, you can always engage in fundraising efforts to support your Employee Appreciation Day vision.

Schedule Time and Place

Scheduling can easily be the most difficult aspect of event planning. When considering a party for your business, you need to factor in output periods, meeting times, and more. Employee Appreciation Day always occurs on a Friday, which is a major boon for scheduling. Typically, Fridays are the least productive, so you won’t lose much by commandeering much of the day for your event.

Next, you should choose a venue. It isn’t uncommon to host small corporate events in the office, but if you want this Employee Appreciation Day to be one to remember, you should consider moving it off-site. To save money, you can reserve a room at a local restaurant; for more glamor, you can book an event space. At the same time, you are considering your venue, you should keep in mind the number of guests and the logistics of food, drink, and entertainment.

Make a Guest List

It seems like this should be straightforward: For Employee Appreciation Day, you’ll invite your employees. However, there are several guest-related questions you may not have considered, such as:

• Are all employees invited? Executives and hourlies?
• Can your employees bring their families and friends?
• Will you invite clients and customers, as well?

As much as you might want to say, “the more, the merrier,” you must remember your budget when crafting your guest list. You should try to keep the emphasis on appreciating your employees — which is the primary goal of your event.

Figure Out Food and Drink

Every good event has nibbles and tipples. Because Employee Appreciation Day is on a Friday, you can feed and water your workers without worrying about them calling in sick the next day. Still, this can be a considerable cost, especially if you want to provide high-quality wining and dining. You should investigate what food and drink options can be provided by your venue to prevent logistical headaches.

Acquire Party Favors

No guest should leave a corporate event empty-handed. Because your staff should benefit most from your Employee Appreciation Day party, you should brainstorm employee recognition ideas for party favors. For example, you can distribute awards for different activities and behaviors around the workplace, not unlike Michael Scott’s “Dundies.” Alternatively, you can hand out company swag, as long as the items are useful and typically unavailable to employees. Ultimately, you should ensure your guests feel special and leave with something to remember the event.

Write Your Speech

There is no question; as the boss, you must make a speech. This should welcome guests to the event, heap praise on your workforce, explain how your employees have impacted the business, and invite everyone to relax and have fun. You might include specific examples of employees exhibiting initiative, attentiveness, or diligence to their work; you might also foresee the future of the business should your employees continue to lend their support, as long as you can avoid slipping into a company status presentation. Under no circumstances should you chastise or mock any of your employees, for doing so will counteract the goodwill and spirit of the event.

Your staff should be able to let loose on Employee Appreciation Day. With a little music, conversation, food, drink, and fun, they will be able to return to work on Monday totally refreshed and re-motivated to accomplish tasks and move toward success.

© New To HR