If you’re a recognition guru or the Director of Positive Mojo at your organization, you probably celebrate your employees on Employee Appreciation Day. Employee Appreciation Day is always celebrated on the first Friday in March. This year, that falls on March 4, 2011. 

All this month, we’ll be sharing Employee Appreciation Day ideas to help you plan an impactful appreciation event. Check back each week or sign up for email updates (in the navigation on the right) to have our ideas delivered right to your inbox.

Employee Appreciation Day can be a fun time to celebrate your staff. However, for your efforts to be interpreted as sincere, recognition and appreciation should be happening regularly in your organization. Don’t let your Employee Appreciation Day go awry like it did for Dilbert.

Source: Scott Adams, dilbert.com What should I do for Employee Appreciation Day?

Keep your Employee Appreciation Day plans simple and focus on authentic recognition. Give managers and employees thank you note cards and encourage them to write a handwritten note to a co-worker they appreciate.

Giving an Employee Appreciation Day gift is also popular. An employee gift can express your thanks and serve as a lasting reminder of your appreciation. Some of our most popular Employee Appreciation Day gifts have been small snacks, like individually packaged cashews or jelly beans.

At Baudville, our employees have a blast with team competitions or activities on Employee Appreciation Day. Last year, we split our employees into six different teams to compete in the Baudville Winter Olympics. It was a blast! You can see videos and photos from the day on our Facebook page.

What happens after Employee Appreciation Day?

For your Employee Appreciation Day efforts to be effective, you need to continue to practice recognition everyday. It’s easy! Equip managers with simple tools that they can use on a daily basis. Regular recognition is about genuine recognition that reinforces desired behaviors, so give managers tips on identifying and recognizing behaviors that you want repeated at your organization.

For more information about day-to-day recognition, visit our Recognition Resource Center. We have articles, videos, and white papers that all go into greater detail about Employee Appreciation Day.

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.