In today’s competitive job market, it has become crucial for organizations to find creative ways to retain and attract top talent. That’s why there has been an increased focus on the topic of employee appreciation.

Employee appreciation is the act of recognizing and rewarding employee contributions to the workplace either through formal or informal channels. Employee appreciation can be demonstrated in a variety of ways. It can entail shouting out team members in a company-wide email for going above and beyond in their job, giving your new hire a welcome gift on their first day, or sending flowers when something exciting happens in an employee’s personal life, like an engagement.

Demonstrating employee appreciation is not only healthy for your employees, but it can provide benefits for your organization as well. Companies with formal recognition and appreciation programs have 31% less voluntary turnover than those that don’t have any program at all.

In addition, research indicates that businesses who implement effective employee recognition programs are:

  • 4x more likely to have highly engaged employees.
  • Twice as likely to have increased revenue over the past year.
  • 73% less likely to have layoffs.
  • 44% less likely to have employees experiencing burnout.

There is even a dedicated day for this concept. Employee Appreciation Day is a day in which employers from across the country dedicate to employee recognition and celebrations. Employee achievement and contributions are honored. It takes place on the first Friday of every March. This year, that falls on March 1st, 2024.

We recommend you make employee appreciation a year-long practice. But here are some ideas on how you can celebrate this Employee Appreciation Day:

1. Take a Field Trip

Provide your team with a change of scenery and offer them a fun bonding experience by giving them the afternoon off, organizing transportation and taking them to a museum, sporting event or amusement park. This is a great way for your organization to support local business in the community as well!

2. Offer a Free Lunch

Treating your employees with a free catered lunch is a simple yet delicious way to show them you appreciate their hard work. Set up shop in the break room and have everyone on your team come together to enjoy a quality meal from a favorite local restaurant. Or, get creative and add a theme to your lunch or take the team to a special location like a rooftop or park.

3. Provide Gifts

Demonstrate your gratitude for your employees’ hard work by giving them an Appreciation Day gift! This could include company swag such as backpacks, t-shirts, or water bottles with your company logo on it. You can also opt to hand out gift cards to local restaurants or stores or give Grubhub meal credits so they can order what they are craving and unlike a gift card, you only pay for what they order.

4. Host a Series of Lunch and Learns

Show you appreciate and care about your employees by providing them with relevant learning opportunities. A lunch and learn is an opportunity to share information including thought leadership, informal training, or personal development. Lunch and learns have three components: an interesting topic, a subject matter expert speaker, and lunch! Spend some time surveying your employees to gauge what type of topics they would be interested in learning about. Then, host the series throughout the remainder of the month. We recommend ordering catering through a corporate ordering solution for those who can attend in-person and providing any remote employees tuning in with individual meal credits so they can get a delicious meal delivered to wherever they may be working.

5. Have a Team Game Night

A game night is an event that not only demonstrates employee appreciation, but also encourages team-building. Set up a variety of board games and card games around the office for employees to participate in. Make the event even more special by ordering catering from a popular local restaurant.

Demonstrate Employee Appreciation Through Grubhub’s Meal Perks

Here at Grubhub we believe in the power of meal perks. 93%* of our corporate clients surveyed agree that employee meal perks boost team morale and foster company culture. Whichever way you choose to thank your employees for their hard work and dedication this Employee Appreciation Day, Grubhub is here to help ensure your team receives the delicious food that they love. Contact us today to learn more about feeding your employees as a way to demonstrate employee appreciation.

*Based on an internal survey of Grubhub Corporate clients (2022).