Each year, at the beginning of March, we have the incredible opportunity to give thanks to our employees that work so hard to keep our businesses running smoothly.

This Friday, March 3rd is Employee Appreciation Day!

Employee Appreciation Day provides an opportunity for managers and employers to show their gratitude for the hard work a dedication that their employees offer to their company. This display of gratitude has an incredible capability to boost company morale and employee retention. This holiday promotes beneficial growth for not only employees, but also the company.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, employee engagement also took a large hit. With more people working from home and making less contact with their coworkers daily, employees found themselves being actively disengaged at work. In a 2022 study, Gallup found that 32% of employees were actively engaged, while 17% were actively disengaged.  With these engagement numbers proving that more and more employees are disengaged, companies are taking a large hit.

Luckily, employee engagement can be aided by employers actively partaking in Employee Appreciation Day.

Another Gallup study concluded that companies with higher employee engagement found that they were 21% more profitable and simultaneously had higher employee retention rates. Additionally, how an employee feels has a direct impact on how the customer will feel, therefore, if an employee feels undervalued, so will the customer.  Studies have also shown that when employees feel appreciated by their employers, there is a 2.7x increase in employee engagement.  With these statistics, it is simple to understand why employee engagement is so critical to the success and wellbeing of your company. Through Employee Appreciation Day, you can increase profit, employee retention, company morale, and employee engagement.

Employee appreciation can be displayed in several ways.

Appreciation can be shown by simple acts of kindness towards employees, such as:

• Presenting them with a gift, some extra time off, or even an opportunity for them to engage with the community around them.

• Thnks , provides some excellent options for displaying employee appreciation, such as a latte to show your thanks for your employee, lunch for your employees favorite restaurant, or an Amazon shopping spree.

  Additional ways to boost employee engagement could be an outing or event:

• Planning a benefit lunch for your department

• Scheduling a service day benefitting a local cause, or

• Providing opportunities for your employees to engage with one another and their community.

At Swoovy, we’re focused every day on how we can drive employee engagement and overall satisfaction and happiness through making it easy to connect individuals with volunteer opportunities that are meaningful to them. We’ve found that it’s critical to the success of companies, and employees wellbeing. We have had the chance to witness tremendous employee engagement built through community with opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise exist without our relationships with our customers.

Ali Zipes from EnsembleIQ was kind enough to share her story with us.

With Employee Appreciation Day being right around the corner, implementing any of the ideas outlined will have a positive effect on employee engagement, company profitability and company morale.

Want to learn more about how employee volunteer programs can show your appreciation all year?

Drop us a line and let’s find time to chat.