Five great ideas to make this year’s employee appreciation day the best ever

It’s always a good time to show your staff how much you value their hard work. A great employee appreciation day brings the entire office together and reinforces the culture of gratitude that pervades every great workplace. An appreciated team is a motivated team.

We came across this terrific list of 51 ideas for employee appreciation days and picked out a few of the best ones below. We’re partial to option number one (potentially catered by a big purple food truck), but there’s no shortage of great ideas that are sure to please the people who make your company awesome.

Warm weather right around the corner means it’s time to get the team outside–nothing brightens spirits like a bit of sunshine after the long, cold winter. Whether you plan a barbecue or an ice cream social, nothing is guaranteed to boost morale like some time outdoors.

2. Donate

Make a small gift on each employee’s behalf to a charity of their own choosing. Chances are you’ll learn something about what matters to them from the organization they select, and they’ll appreciate that you care about what’s important to them. It’s a recipe for building great workplace relationships.

Give your employees something they can use as they please. Gift cards are versatile, easy to purchase, and you don’t even have to break the bank–just enough for a few cups of coffee at Starbucks or a couple of movie rentals on iTunes.

Pizza–like white doves or the Olympic rings–is a universal symbol of goodwill. Inviting the team into the break room for a couple of pies is a failsafe way to get people talking and smiling.

Who ever said you have to be at work to feel appreciated? Treating your team to some much needed time off is a great way to say “job well done.” Surprising employees with a half day on the Friday before Presidents’ Day is a perfect way to kick off the holiday weekend with good vibes that will last well into spring.