Elevate Employee Morale with Thoughtful Employee Appreciation Gifts
The Power of Employee Appreciation: Why it Matters for Your Business
The corporate world is not only fast paced, but constantly changing. In just three years, employees have had to power through a pandemic, navigate layoffs, adjust to remote work and as of recently, return to the office, all while managing their everyday workload. But even after everything employees have been through, it’s unfortunately easy for employers to overlook the importance of employee appreciation.
Recognizing the hard work and dedication of employees is essential to any business. It fosters a positive work culture, enhances employee morale, boosts job satisfaction, and increases engagement and productivity in the workplace – all things that directly correlate to the success of a company.
In fact, recent survey results show that 83.6% of employees feel that recognition affects their motivation to succeed at work, with nearly 78% saying they’d be more productive if recognized more frequently. So, how can you harness the power of employee appreciation?
Well for starters, you need to give something more than a thank-you card or pat on the back. Instead, you can boost engagement, loyalty and morale through thoughtful employee appreciation gifts.
The Surprising Benefits of Thoughtfully Chosen Gifts for Employees
Increased Job Satisfaction
With the average job spanning 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. five days a week, it’s safe to assume that a majority of our lives are spent working. That being said, it’s important for employees to enjoy where they work and what they do. Employee appreciation gifts can add to their overall job satisfaction and everyday happiness on the job.
Improved Productivity
A large part of productivity stems from appreciation. People want to know when they’re doing well, and sometimes encouraging words can only go so far. By recognizing individual contributions with gifts, employees will be motivated to work harder, collaborate more effectively and drive company performance.
Talent Retention & Attraction
Finding the right talent can be a tough task, especially in today’s job market. When you find the perfect person for a job, you want to do everything in your power as an employer to keep them at your company. Additionally, you want to attract new talent by establishing a culture of appreciation and gifts are the perfect way to do this.
Elevate Employee Morale with Thoughtful Employee Appreciation Gifts
Employee morale is defined as the attitude, satisfaction and well-being of employees in the workplace – essentially, it’s how happy your employees are with their job. When employee morale is high, people are eager to go above and beyond for their employer; but when morale is low, employees perform poorly, feel disengaged and lack motivation to go beyond the bare minimum.
Thoughtful employee incentive gifts are one way to foster a positive work environment. But before you choose specific gifts, you’ll need to identify different opportunities to give them away. One approach is to celebrate employee accomplishments, such as someone successfully leading a critical project or someone being promoted.
Another idea is to implement a peer recognition program, where employees could nominate their colleagues for custom employee gifts based on their recent performance. Publicly acknowledging individual successes shows employees that their work doesn’t go unnoticed, and motivates others to become high performers as well.
Next, you’ll need to pick thoughtful gifts for the occasion, with a strong emphasis on the word “thoughtful”. You want your appreciation gifts to communicate that employees are truly valued – so yes, you should probably cross gift cards off the list. Instead, opt for something like an engraved award, as they can be personalized and shown off at home or in the office.
These awards come in different styles and sizes, including glass towers and plaques that can be inscribed with an employee’s name, the occasion they’re being recognized for, the date of recognition and more. They also serve as a constant reminder of success, providing motivation for the recipient and other employees who are striving to receive their own award.
Boosting Engagement and Loyalty With Employee Appreciation Gifts
Employee engagement and loyalty is just as important as morale – you want employees to feel connected to their colleagues, company and daily work. Once they feel both engaged and appreciated, you can count on their loyalty to the company, as they’ll want to continue working in an uplifting environment for years to come.
Starting with gifts that boost engagement, one impactful approach is to provide experiential gifts such as team or company outings. This could include tickets to a sporting event like a baseball game, a golf outing on the greens or a company BBQ hosted outside the office. To complete the experience, you could even personalize company merchandise for the outing, such as custom hats or other apparel.
Additionally, milestone and anniversary gifts can encourage company loyalty. Whether you’re celebrating their 5-year or 25-year work anniversary, it’s important to recognize the years that an employee has dedicated to you as an employer through gifting. A tiered approach is one option, where the recognition gifts get better as your years with the company increase.
For example, employees celebrating milestones of 1-5 years would receive custom drinkware, while people with 20+ years under their belt could choose from custom tech gifts like speakers or headphones.
Harness the Power of Employee Appreciation with Staples Promo
It’s never too late to harness the power of employee appreciation. Empower your employees and your business when you start your custom company merchandise order with Staples Promo. From apparel and tech to sustainable gifts and much more, you’ll find more than 2,500 items ideal for employee appreciation gifts.
