Employee Appreciation Day is coming up Friday, March 4. In our experience, using an Employee Appreciation Day theme is a surefire way to put on a fun and memorable day for your employees. The last few Employee Appreciation Days at Baudville have had drastically different themes.

In 2008, we gave every employee small gift boxes of cashews. Our theme was “we’re nuts about you!”

In 2009, we enacted our own Employee Stimulus Package. The package included breakfast and a casual day for every employee!

In 2010, we hosted our very own Winter Olympic games. You can see all the pictures and videos on our Facebook page.

For an Employee Appreciation Day theme to be effective, it should express appreciation and coordinate with any events, activities or gifts you have planned. Here a few ideas for 2011:

Employee Appreciation Day Theme Ideas

Tropical Escape – Break out of the winter blues with a tropical Employee Appreciation Day theme. The Baudville Making a Difference Starfish theme can help tie everything together. Place an image of a starfish on all your emails and newsletters about Employee Appreciation Day. Host a luau and serve fresh fruit, smoothies, and pulled pork sandwiches. Have a limbo contest and vote on the craziest Hawaiian shirt!

Hollywood or Bust – Employee Appreciation Day is on the heels of the Oscars this year, so continue the glamour at your organization. Roll out the red carpet for employees and express your appreciation with a gift from our new Star Performer theme. Serve popcorn and give each employee their own personalized star tile.

Community Involvement – If your organization is active in the community, Together We Can Make a Difference is the Employee Appreciation Day theme for you. Center all your activities on community involvement. You can host a blood drive or collect can goods for a food pantry. If you can get out of the office, spend the day volunteering for a local charity. At the end of the day, give each employee a Character Pin to recognize their contributions both in and out of the office.

Customized Olympic Games – Our Olympic games were such a hit with employees, some even called it the best Employee Appreciation Day ever! You can use this Employee Appreciation Day theme, too, with the help of our World’s Greatest Team theme. Create your own competitions and ward every employee with a button for their participation. Some of our games included ID card toss, rubber band shooting, and office chair luge.

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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.