National Employee Appreciation Day lands on the first Friday in March each year, this year falling on Friday, March 5th. Why do we celebrate it, you ask? Well, why not? The truth is we can always celebrate our employees any day of the year. But like many jobs that we work, much of what we do for that job on a daily basis is to be expected.

Much like how a mother or father takes on their role as a parent every day. Their children, family, community, career, and general environment expect certain responsibilities to be cared for by those parents. But even mom and dad get a special day to recognize just how awesome and appreciated they really are.

So, if there’s Mother’s Day,  Father’s Day, National Nurses Day, Bosses Day, Love Your Pet Day, well,…why wouldn’t we have a day that celebrates those incredible, hard-working employees or ours?

A Brief History

Employees are one of a company’s greatest assets. Validation and appreciation are known as the key motivational factors in the workplace. And, this guy, Bob Nelson knew that. In 1995, Mr. Nelson, a founding Recognition Professional International board member, together with his publishing company, Workman Publishing, created National Employee Appreciation Day. Thanks, Bob!

A brief history indeed though. We’ve only been celebrating this awesome holiday for twenty-five years. But we’ve got many more years ahead of us. Make sure to mark these dates on for the future.

• 4 March 2022
• 3 March 2023
• 1 March 2024
• 7 March 2025
• 6 March 2026
• 5 March 2027
• 3 March 2028
• 2 March 2029
• 1 March 2030

How Abby Appreciates

At Abby Connect, we know how to show our employees just how much they mean to us. It’s something we take great pride in doing. Whether it’s an employee’s birthday, a work anniversary (or as we like to call them, Abbyversaries), someone’s getting married, expecting a baby, graduating from college, or any big life event, we recognize and validate each momentous occasion. You could say that we’d come up with any kind of excuse just to celebrate our Abby family.

Just check out these photos of past employee celebrations we’ve hosted at our workspace.

We certainly know how to show our appreciation around here. How could we not? This is one amazing work family we have. And, showing them how grateful we are to have them on our side will always be a top priority for Abby Connect.

How Can You Show Your Appreciation?

There are a variety of different ways you can show your appreciation for your employees. You can show your gratitude through verbal praise, monetary awards, personalized gifts, and fun events or experiences.

Engaging your employees on how they prefer to be appreciated can help you decide on which types of employee recognition programs and events to incorporate regularly into the workplace.

Here are a few ideas you can consider implementing to help recognize employees for their hard work.

• Years of service award
  An employee award that acknowledges years of service helps tenured employees stay engaged while encouraging new hires to stay committed to the role.
• Customer service award
  You can show appreciation for employees in customer service roles by rewarding them for meeting sales goals, demonstrating leadership skills, receiving positive customer feedback, or providing exceptional customer service.
• Employee appreciation events
  Hosting an employee appreciation event is another way to recognize employees. Praising employees for their good work in front of their colleagues can help boost self-esteem and make employees feel valued, which can lead to increased motivation to succeed.
• Acknowledgments on social media
  Shouting out an employee on the company’s social media platforms or internal company intranet is a great and free way to recognize employees regularly.
• Monetary employee recognition awards
  Rewarding employees in a monetary way is another employee recognition tactic to consider. For example, extra paid time off, bonuses, gift cards, paid training opportunities or career development, free meals, monetary employee recognition programs don’t have to be extravagant or cost a lot of money.
• An employee of the month award
  An employee of the month program is a classic employee recognition award that works when implemented strategically. Consider having peers or managers vote for the employee, and have each person explain why they’re voting for a particular person.

At Abby Connect, we recommend sending out a survey listing some things that you and your company might consider doing to celebrate. This way you can keep control of your company’s budget while still giving your employees the opportunity to be heard. Another great way to show your appreciation. 😉