In a world where Zoom meetings have replaced break room chats, leaders are transforming how we celebrate success with new employee appreciation ideas for remote workers.
This article features some of our favorite employee appreciation ideas for remote workers. We’ll explain how to recognize remote employees in ways that make them feel valued and offer tips for getting the most out of each idea.
Remote Work Is Here To Stay—Celebrate It!
The COVID-19 pandemic may have boosted the popularity of remote work, but virtual teams have proven they’re here to stay. According to the Pew Research Center, about 22 million adults in the U.S. work from home, and more than 20% of Americans will work remotely by 2025.
But how do employers maintain the same positive work culture and social interactions with the growing number of remote workers? How do you celebrate success at work? How do you wish a coworker a happy birthday? How do you congratulate them on getting married or a new addition to the family?
Working remotely has changed these things, but that doesn’t mean it’s not easy to celebrate with them or thank them for their hard work. You just need to think outside the box to ensure your remote team feels appreciated. (Or, y’know, just scatter these employee appreciation ideas for remote workers throughout each month’s to-do list and call it a day.)
Why Does Gratitude and Employee Appreciation for Remote Workers Matter?
Did you know that only 37% of employees who receive annual recognition by their employer feel valued? In contrast, 98% of employees who receive daily recognition feel valued by their employer. That’s a big difference!
Long story short—don’t just limit Remote Employee Appreciation Day to September 22. Celebrate it daily, weekly, or at least monthly!
In a popular episode of the Team Building Saves the World podcast, we talked to Chris Schembra, Founder of the Gratitude Experience—An Attitude for Gratitude. He’s also the bestselling author of “Gratitude and Pasta: The Secret Sauce for Human Connection” and a founding member of the Rolling Stone Magazine’s Culture Council.
Schembra had some powerful insights on why showing your employees gratitude is so beneficial:
“Gratitude creates that psychological trust and safety. It creates those emotional attachments needed to support innovation and creativity,” Chris explained. “In life, people have a habit of kissing up to leaders, especially when they step over people and kiss the ass of the people whose job they want. Well, we believe in the polar opposite. We believe that you gotta take care of the people beneath you in order to rise together.”
Top 3 Employee Appreciation Ideas for Remote Workers
Virtual engagement is a rapidly changing topic, with new ideas sprouting everywhere. Below, we’ve listed our favorite employee engagement ideas for remote workers, from shared experiences to online thank-you gifts.
1. Send an Invite, Group Card, or Video!
Remote employee appreciation gifts and celebrations don’t need to be elaborate—it can be as simple as a virtual or group video card. Here are some virtual recognition ideas for inviting employees to events, sending congratulations, and making sure your team members feel valued!
Make It Official
Have you booked that virtual event, your first social distancing meeting, a fun night out, or a holiday celebration? If so, get your group excited with an official virtual invite!
Sites like Punchbowl, Evite, Greenvelope, or Paperless Post can help you create quick and easy e-cards with templates and RSVP tracking.
Design a Kudoboard
This reimagined version of the classic greeting card, passed around your team to personalize and sign, is delivered to their inbox and accessible forever. You can acknowledge and celebrate any special occasion by attaching messages, photos, GIFs, or videos to the recipient’s Kudoboard.
Kudoboards are designed to bring your team members together and foster a sense of community and fun.
Send a Virtual Group Card
Sending a classic card is more difficult now that many employees work from home while others might be in the office. Luckily, multiple platforms for sending virtual group cards make it easy for everyone to sign with a link.
Sites like GroupGreeting, OpenMe, or GroupGreets make setting up and sending to that special someone cost-efficient and straightforward.
Create an Animated E-Card
Find your favorite flash animations, dancing ecards, and videos with JibJab. This works by uploading your faces to create your very own customized, hilarious virtual video or animation that your friends and co-workers won’t forget.
2. Take Your Traditional Employee Appreciation Ideas Virtual
We’ve been searching for alternatives to classic work celebration ideas, such as a night out or an office party. And guess what? The search was successful!
Here are some tried-and-true virtual employee appreciation ideas for remote workers to ensure everyone has a great work experience.
Deliver Champagne to Their Doorstep!
Do you miss the Friday happy hour? Celebrate a birthday or a successful project at work virtually by delivering champagne to their doorstep.
TeamBonding’s Virtual Happy Hour or Wine Tasting is flexible and customizable for your team’s needs or preferences. You can even make plans to have cocktail kits delivered to team members so they can craft the perfect mixed drink together—with the help of an expert mixologist—without leaving home.
S’ Mores and Campfires
Your group can enjoy live music, interactive ghost stories of local legends, fun competitions, and trivia around a virtual campfire. This one will surely be a hit, especially with our delectable artisan s’ mores kit!
Laugh More, Stress Less
Laughter is the perfect mood-booster. Combine it with yoga, and you’ll have one amazing lunch break or after-work Laughter Yoga session with your team. If this sounds a bit silly, that’s because it is! But how can you argue with a remote employee appreciation gift that brings pure joy, fun, and laughter with colleagues?
Give Them a Game Hour (Or Two!)
Another great idea to show employee appreciation is to remind your remote team how much fun they have together. Games like Virtual Jeopardy!®, Anything Goes, In It To Win It, or Survey Says can be customized as an icebreaker or a traditional trivia challenge.
These employee appreciation games are guaranteed to engage everyone, and the learning curve is close to zero. With official Jeopardy!-themed music, voice-overs, and sound effects, your team is guaranteed to laugh and have a blast in no time.
3. Send an Online Thank-You Gift
It’s important to ensure your virtual team is engaged and feels appreciated. Has your team been working long hours? Did they go the extra mile by working hard on a project? Nothing boosts employee morale more effectively than simply saying thank you.
Here are some quick and easy remote employee appreciation ideas to ensure your team knows you care.
Coffee or Ice Cream
Mail or email a gift card! If you have an address handy, you might add a personal touch by sending them a gift card. You can also send it via email if you’d rather avoid snail mail.
Appreciation Kits
Say thank you by sending your team employee appreciation kits with goodies or items that will make them smile. Sometimes, the best employee appreciation ideas for remote workers are the ones with a personal touch, so think up things that match their interests and personalities!
Traditional Gift Baskets
Celebrate a promotion or team success with a gourmet basket! Schedule a gift basket to be delivered to their door from their favorite (or your favorite) specialty shop.
Our Top Tips for Showing Your Employees You Appreciate Them
Have you decided to implement some of these employee appreciation ideas for remote workers to show your teams you care? Congrats! You’re one step closer to a happier, more productive remote team.
Here are a few tips to get the most out of these ideas.
- Pay attention to important days: Set reminders for important milestones like birthdays, work anniversaries, and holidays to show your remote workers they’re valued.
- Always say thank you: One of the best employee appreciation ideas for remote workers is also one of the easiest—just make saying “thank you” a routine every time they complete a task or help out.
- Give them an extra day off: To help hard-working remote employees relax and feel appreciated for their efforts, reward them with the gift of time, such as an extra day off or a half day on Friday.
- Go big at least once a year: September 22 is the day to bust out the big Employee Appreciation Day ideas for remote workers! Use this holiday to host a big team building event or get everyone together for a party.
Your Team Deserves To Feel Appreciated
Showing appreciation for your remote team’s hard work boosts employee morale, productivity, and retention while fostering a strong connection to your company. These employee appreciation ideas for remote workers are simple gestures to help your team members feel valued and engaged so you can build a happier and more productive workplace.
You don’t need to invest a lot of effort to show appreciation. And with a huge catalog of virtual team building activities, TeamBonding makes it even easier to celebrate your team. Contact us today to get started!
