Legacy Talent Development - Blog

Friday is Employee Appreciation Day! It’s a perfect opportunity to express appreciation and acknowledge employee’s hard work.

Whether it's a sincere note of gratitude or the gift of time off, your heartfelt gesture will bring joy and greater engagement while fostering a culture where everyone feels valued. We’ve curated 15 of our favorites to jumpstart your celebration!

1. Hourly Snacks - Arrange for small treats, snacks, coffee carts, or dessert to pop up throughout the day. Watch the energy soar each time you send a message about the newest snack! To mix up the conversations, try changing the location of snacks.
2. Personalized Thank You Note - Oh the power of a heartfelt note! Mention the employee’s recent accomplishments, contributions and other genuine compliments. Be specific to let them know your message was crafted just for them.
3. Grow Confidence and Competence - Gift clarity and confidence with IGNITE Leadership Coaching! Employees work 1:1 with a leadership coach. They bring a specific leadership opportunity, challenge or decision to work on. During a powerful strategy session, obstacles are removed and confidence is catapulted. Employees leave a plan to take decisive action. Schedule a quick chat to learn more.
4. Photo Scavenger Hunt - Adventure awaits! Create random teams and a list of items to find and take pictures of. These can be gems in the building or items such as neon sign, a local landmark or a someone wearing polka dots around town. Add a fun prize for the first team to find everything on the list!
5. Guest Speaker - Bring in a fabulous outside speaker to entertain, develop and inspire your team.
6. Time Off - always a winner! Provide bonus paid time off such as a Friday, extra day for fun, or give employees their birthday off.
7. Work & Life Balance - Everyone appreciates balance in their work week. Offer employees a break from the day-to-day with a gift certificate to a restaurant, the movies, a cleaning company, food delivery service, or a spa visit.
8. VIP Gift Box - Ask employees about their favorite snacks and drinks. Fill a swanky box with their favorite gift cards, bottled drinks, candy, chocolate, etc. Then, surprise everyone with their very own unique VIP gift box.
9. Escape Room - Escape rooms are back with both in-person and virtual options. The clock is ticking and teamwork is the only way out!
10. Salsa Competition - Who doesn’t love chips and salsa? Create a buffet of salsa ingredients like tomatoes, jalapenos, pineapple, cilantro, garlic, limes, chili powder, salt, pepper, sugar, corn, green chiles, etc. You’ll also need bowls, spoons, knives, cutting boards and tortilla chips. Create teams and watch the tasting fun mix with competitive spirits. Everyone wins with salsa sampling!
11. Uplevel Self-Awareness - Support employee’s growth is with the gift of professional development. The Hogan Leadership Assessment helps employees gain stronger self-awareness. During a powerful coaching meeting, they’ll deep dive into their strengths, potential performance derailers and what’s truly diving them now. You'll be amazed at the renewed sense of joy and elevated excellence your employees take-away. Schedule a quick chat to learn more. Or reserve your spot here.  
12. Happy Hour - Bring in fancy nonalcoholic drinks like Italian sodas, energy drinks, flavored sparkling waters and fufu soft drinks. Or host an off-site happy hour with appetizers for the entire team.
13. Personalized Videos - Send a personalize a Thank You video to each employee. Keep it short and don’t worry about the “perfect take”. Be your authentic self by making it entertaining, sweet, humorous, or casual.
14. Wellness Activities - Organize wellness activities such as yoga classes, mindfulness workshops, on-site massages, or on-site life coaching. A healthy and happy workforce is a productive one!
15. Cornhole Competition - Fun indoors or out! Grab a few corn hole boards. Create randoms teams and ask each to decide on a fun, spirited team name. Giveaway a silly, boast-worthy prize for the winning team.

We’d love to hear how you spotlight your team March 1!