Milestones and achievements are great occasions for a celebration at work. People want to feel acknowledged and appreciated; these key points in their careers are moments of reflection and analysis. And while it’s nice to feel good about yourself, it’s even nicer to celebrate with your team and coworkers. It motivates you to work harder, improve your performance, and be a better team player.
One can easily find recognition programs in most companies. However, showing individual appreciation or sending a birthday message is not enough. You need a way to celebrate success for every occasion and team. It should be in accordance with your company culture, inclusive, and thoughtful. You also need to know when to celebrate and how to engage employees in the event. Celebrating success should make the workplace a happier place for your staff.
Your employees meet a goal and then move on to the next one. Their work life is a series of goals, deadlines, and performance statistics. However, if you don’t take the time to celebrate success in between, employees will lose motivation and engagement. After all, if their success is not important for the company, why should they bother?
Celebrating individual and team success should be part of the company’s recognition program. It helps you avoid burnout and improve your staff’s performance. It lets people know you are aware of their effort and appreciate their results. At the same time, it boosts morale, improves relationships, and supports a trustworthy work environment.
We all want to be part of a successful team in the long term. Therefore, celebrating wins at work improves turnover and the brand’s reputation among the workforce.
Celebrating success should be special and perceived as a reward. If it happens too often, it loses the magic. If it happens rarely, it seems forced and artificial. Therefore, you should find the most natural and thoughtful way to celebrate. Consider your staff’s opinions and habits before designing a celebration procedure.
Some of the best occasions for celebrations are special work anniversaries, wins at work, first achievements, exceptional work, consistency over a long period, and meeting goals that align with the company’s culture. Customize the way you celebrate success and the frequency of celebration. Also, ensure you don’t impose celebrations on your employees. Most of the time, they would like to spend evenings and weekends with their families, not at a job-related event.
Tip: LeaveBoard allows managers to track the birthdays and work anniversary for the employees within Google calendar with an easy to setup integration.
Since you are the team manager, you need to look after your coworkers and maintain momentum, the sense of camaraderie trough special moments when you celebrate success. Let's discover what are the key ways to celebrate achievement:
Congratulate your employees with a handwritten letter or certificate. It is a small gesture that goes a long way. It allows you to be honest, speak from the heart, express gratitude, and add a personal touch. Personalized messages and certificates make great memories to share with your peers or family. In addition, they are well received even by the most introverted employees.
Suppose you're looking for messages to celebrate success at work. In that case, we have 125 examples of quotes that you can use in a comprehensive set of situations (achievement, promotion, speech, new clients, management, career, etc.).
The best celebration for companies with a strong social side is a public announcement on social media or intranet. It gives others the chance to congratulate the employee for their win at work. It also motivates the rest of the staff to do their best. Public recognition shows you are proud of your employees.
When you work hard to achieve a goal, celebrating inside the workspace is rewarding and motivating. The meeting rooms are relieved from tension and stress and become a place for laughter, friendly meetings, and celebration. Cater some finger food, sweets, and soft drinks and allow your staff to relax.
Nothing is more welcome than some extra time off to relax and recharge. Wins at work take a toll on employees’ families and social life. It’s only natural for them to benefit from extra time to care for their wellbeing.
Tip: With the Leave Management System from LeaveBoard you can add easily an extra PTO day or two, in just few clicks for every employee.
If you want to celebrate more actively, reward wins at work with career opportunities. Facilitate for your best employees to participate in work-related events and workshops, meet their peers, and stay up to date with the latest innovations in their field. It will motivate them to work harder and more efficiently and improve your staff’s general performance.
Teamwork is crucial for high-performing teams. When you want to constantly get your colleagues to new levels of productivity, you need to break the monotony and business as usual, and be remarkable. Here is how you can do this:
An ad-hoc office party boosts morale and helps people get to know each other in an informal space. The team will benefit from a unique bonding moment, share their ups and downs, and learn to trust each other more.
Sometimes, getting the celebration out of the office is a good idea. If the team includes remote employees or collaborators, planning a long lunch in a lovely location will make everyone happy. Choose a location that fits all preferences and allows people to relax and enjoy some time off.
Gifts are always an excellent way to celebrate success at work. Not only that you get to show your appreciation, but people will also receive something to remind them of this event. Choose something representative, useful, or funny but base your decision on the team’s vibe and preference. That’s no use in giving something no one wants or needs.
In case you're looking for inspiration for Christmas or anniversary gifts for your peers, bosses or managers, we have 50+ suggestions for you
A great way to build trust and make the team stronger is to engage in sports activities. Choose either something they never played or something they all know how to play. An open discussion on the matter is implied.
If you don’t want to interrupt the working day with a long lunch, finish early and take the team out for dinner. It supplies a more relaxed atmosphere and allows people to focus on other topics than work. Furthermore, they can bring their significant other and create a friendly reunion. People who get along outside the office will work better as a team inside the office.
You might have worked hard to put together a conference, or pushed the last few days for a project release, or worked many extra hours with some staff members to get the work done for your client and now everyone is happy and satisfied. That is great, you need to take a breath now, and celebrate this accomplishment. Let's find out how to do this:
The best way to motivate employees and stimulate hard work is to use the extra time off as a reward. It tells people you care about their wellbeing. Healthy and fresh employees perform better, miss work less, and develop better work relationships. They are more willing to engage in complicated tasks or do overtime.
Another way to celebrate success that will never go out of fashion is by offering financial bonuses. Yes, money motivates people to work hard and do their best. If you want a less direct approach, you can consider offering shares in the company.
If offering money doesn’t fit your company’s policy, gift cards are the next best thing. Celebrate success by offering people gift cards able to check something on their lists. It may be a gift card to a spa, fun park, or travel agency. Such gifts will trigger excitement and joy for the employee. Otherwise, it may be a gift card to a gym or fancy restaurant, which will surely make your coworkers’ day. It’s up to you. However, ensure the gift matches the receiver’s habits and lifestyle.
Tip: We have a list of 40 Christmas Gifts for Employees that you might enjoy.
They remind employees of their hard work celebration for longer. Each time they enjoy the benefit, they remember the reason for which they received it. And it is enjoyable to know you are appreciated. Hard work isn’t a singular event. So you need motivated and engaged employees that know you won’t forget their effort and commitment.
Celebrate hard work by making your employees’ lives more pleasant during working hours. Offer lunch or coffee cards to release them from the annoyance of looking for food and drinks. Furthermore, if you add how much money an employee spends on lunch and coffee in a month, you’ll see that this reward is also a financial one. Therefore, the employees will have the energy to work harder, satisfaction for being appreciated, and a healthy diet.
If you enjoyed these examples of how to celebrate success, we've made also a graphic with all these ideas that is easy to share with colleagues.
Conclusion
Celebrating the success of all kinds motivates people to do their job better, boosts morale, and shows appreciation. They also help employees be more comfortable at work, develop better relationships, and balance career and personal life. As each company is different, our advice is always to take time to listen to your staff and find out what they value the most. Just because you offer something doesn’t mean you do the right thing. So get to know your workforce and be on their side.
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