Professionals have historically had a difficult time recognizing and celebrating their achievements. We tend to associate joy and merriment with our private lives and free time rather than our professional endeavors. Even if we’re good at congratulating each other on big successes like promotions and sales, we’re not as good at recognizing the smaller wins that happen every week and add up to greater success over time.

Some managers worry that praising minor successes will lead to complacency or divert attention from more important tasks. A lot of people aren’t used to being praised, so they don’t connect celebrations with long-term achievements.

The truth, however, is that celebrating successes at work is vital. However, in the United States, 79 percent of workers who quit do so because they don’t feel appreciated. Considering that 65 percent of workers say they have received no recognition in the past year, this is to be expected. Thirty-five percent say they are less productive because of this lack of appreciation, and 78 percent say they would work certainly harder if they were recognized for their efforts. With that in mind, read on to find out how to celebrate success at work in a meaningful way that will make a difference.

Use Internal Messaging

Internal newsletters sent out once a week are a great way to promote a positive work environment while also providing constructive feedback. Individual and group successes can be highlighted through shoutouts on company message boards, in team meetings, and even online “Happy Hours.” Flowers and food are symbols of comfort; sending them as tokens of appreciation for hard work is a nice gesture on the part of the team.

Hold A Monthly Celebration

Try to get everyone together once a month (or once every two months if that is easier) and hold a party where everyone can be together. In the age of remote working, this might be a rare event, so that makes it even more fun. Organize a singer or other act through expert entertainment agencies and make it a different kind of entertainment each time to keep people interested. Offer food and drink and let everyone have a good time.

Everyone will look forward to the event, keeping morale high ahead of it, and once it’s done, they will feel appreciated and happy, keeping productivity high after it.

Go To A Restauran

When there are fewer than 20 people in a group, this strategy is effective. A group dinner with 150 coworkers quickly becomes a challenging gathering at which guests sit with and chat only with their closest friends, and it therefore defeats the purpose of a personalized thank you if the host doesn’t get to chat with everyone. In addition, the cost of taking a group out to dinner now is exorbitant. However, it can be effective for smaller groups.

Go For Drinks

Going out for drinks is cheaper than eating at a restaurant and is more conducive to large gatherings. A bar could be rented out for private use, and bar food could be catered.

The key is picking somewhere close to the office so that everyone can easily get there. Since it won’t seem like such a massive production, many more people will feel at ease attending. Not only that, but they won’t feel like they’ve had a major part of their day snatched away.

If there are too many people to take out for drinks, host the event at the office by purchasing alcohol and soft drinks from a nearby liquor store or grocery store.

Competitive Games

You will have heard of team-building games, and you might know how effective they can be at bringing your workers together and getting them to be more effective and productive. So why not combine some of these activities with your celebration?

You could take your team out for fun activities such as:

• Karting
• Paintballing
• High ropes
• Bowling
• Inflatable obstacle courses
• Scavenger hunt
• Escape room

Not only will your team bond more, but they’ll feel appreciative that you’ve arranged this kind of day away from the office as a treat and celebration of success, whether that’s a group success or an individual one. Just make sure that you organize the day on a weekday when they would normally be at work because they won’t feel so appreciative if they have to sacrifice a weekend for whatever you have planned.

Time Off

If you can, giving time off is a good thing to do. If your team had to work a lot of unpaid overtime to get to the point where you are now celebrating success, try to show your appreciation by giving them that time off instead.

It will depend on your position within the company as to how much power you have in this situation, and you may need to check with others before you do this, but if you are able to, it’s an excellent incentive to get people to work harder if they know they’ll be awarded additional vacation days.

Gift Vouchers

Buying a gift for an employee is fraught with difficulties because you may not know them well, and you might pick the wrong thing. Either that or you’ll get them something generic that doesn’t mean a lot.

This is where gift vouchers can be useful. Although some might think they are just as generic as any other standard gift, the fact is that people do enjoy receiving vouchers because they can splurge on things they wouldn’t normally get to buy (or at least buy things without any guilt). Pick an online store or one that is local to your employee because if they have to travel to use the vouchers, it won’t seem like such a treat.

Final Thoughts

If you want your team to do their best and be present in their tasks, you’ll need to incentivize them, and the best way to do that is to offer them something in return for their hard work. Whether that’s a huge party, a day off, or a gift voucher, the sentiment will be the same, and the results should be positive.