How To Celebrate Your Team And Why It's Important

Celebrating your team and showing recognition towards employees is a great way to create the foundation for a positive and productive work environment.

Whether it’s to acknowledge a job well done or to celebrate a special milestone, taking the time to recognize the hard work of your team can have a significant impact on their motivation and overall job satisfaction. In this article, we’ll explore the research and reasons behind why recognition and celebrations are important and show you some of the best ideas for celebrating your team with hands-on advice on what to do.

The Importance Of Celebration & Recognition In The Workspace

“72% of respondents rank recognition given for high performers as having a significant impact on employee engagement”

- Harvard Business Review, The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance

According to researchers, one of the most effective ways to improve productivity and engagement is through recognition. This is because it helps motivate and engage employees and increase their productivity, which leads to increased profitability for your company. Despite this, many business leaders still don’t take the time to establish compelling employee recognition programs that are thought-through and effective. When leaders do not take the time to recognize their employees, it leaves them feeling unappreciated, unmotivated, and less engaged with their work. This can lead to higher turnover rates and a decrease in productivity among your workforce, which is why it’s so important for you to establish a formal employee recognition program within your organization.

Recognition Creates A Strong Company

“52.5% of employees want more recognition from their immediate manager”
- Recognition in the Workplace, Quantum Workplace and BambooHR

Employees want to know how they are doing and what support they have available to them from their managers. It’s important to recognize their efforts and successes, as well as provide them with the resources necessary to accomplish their goals. The more you can do this, the happier your employees will be and the stronger your company will become. According to a study done by Glassdoor, over 50% of employees say they would stay longer in an organization if they get more recognition from their immediate managers, showing the direct implication recognition has on your business’ foundation.

Now that you understand why celebration and recognition are important in the workspace, let's have a look at how you can use this knowledge to create celebration and recognition initiatives.

Did you know with Doozy you can celebrate your team’s birthdays directly in Slack? The Doozy Slack app allows you to:

• Celebrate birthdays & work anniversaries
• Send virtual birthday cards
• Notify managers in advance
• Sync dates from your HRIS

The 3 Best Ideas To Celebrate Your Team

Try one of these celebration initiatives to help your team feel more appreciated.

1. Celebrate Birthdays And Anniversaries

Let's say a member of your team has just turned 30. You want to do something special for them, but you're not sure what. Here are some ideas:

• Share stories about the person's achievements at work. If they've been with the company for a while, there are likely many great stories that their colleagues can tell about them. Ask everyone on the team to share one story each and make it an occasion to celebrate the person's workplace accomplishments.
• Ask the person to share their favourite memories from last year and ask what they would like to do differently this year.
• Ask what goals they have set out for themselves this year – and then help them achieve those goals by providing whatever resources may be required (time off from work? A raise?)

2. Celebrate Workers Living Your Company Values

Many remote/hybrid companies share their values in their companies' handbooks and mission statements. These values should be something you, as a leader, believe in and want to promote within your company. Therefore it's a great opportunity to celebrate an employee that lives up to these values. This can be by noticing a specific behaviour at a workshop or client call or simply valuing the attitude and work ethic of an employee.

3. Recognize Highly Specific Knowledge

Having a diverse team is great for problem-solving and creating amazing results. This can be an opportunity to recognize the value of having a diverse team in general, or simply celebrate the fact your company has employees with highly specific knowledge. Specific knowledge is especially important if you're looking to hire more people like this in the future.

If you need more inspiration, check out our latest article "11 Best Team Celebration Ideas to Elevate Your Workplace Culture".

Celebrate Small And Large Accomplishments

To sum it up, the best way to celebrate your team is by finding ways to show them how much you appreciate them as an individual and their hard work within the organization. Be it a birthday or anniversary, taking time off-site for an activity like hiking or socializing or even just giving public recognition at company meetings or presentations, there are many ways you can make employees feel special on a daily basis. Remember that celebrating achievements doesn't just help boost morale, it also makes employees feel more connected and committed to the organization as a whole and therefore makes your company stronger and more resilient.

Don`t forget to check out Doozy’s Team Celebrations, and celebrate your team’s key dates directly in Slack – you can try it out for free today!

Image Credit: Giphy, Pexels