Employee Appreciation Day - £5 per head

[justlikebuses]

I need some ideas. I have a budget of £5 per head to show appreciation for our employees.
In the workforce we have:
Multiple sites
Workers who will be off shift
Workers who will be on night shift
Day workers
Management against vouchers for costa etc.

I'm coming up with cake. That's all. Please could you sling some ideas my way.

What you'd post the jenga?

Buy something communal rather than £5/person

New microwave? Something nice for the break rooms? Water fountains?

Or if it has to be something each, what about a load of pot plants that people can take one of?

I worked somewhere where we got a free lunch once a month, it was just a sandwich, drink and a snack in a paper bag but it was always appreciated and looked forward to.

I think branded good chocolate is the best of the gifts - eat it, give it away, the grumpy staff won't be happy with anything but they can pass it on.

Best is finishing early!

Something we did many decades ago was sponsor the match ball for the local premier league football team, all the players signed the ball and all the eligible people were entered into the draw. Other ideas, corporate membership of a local attraction so people can book the membership card for the weekend / days off to take their friends / families. The National Trust used to offer this, not sure if it still does. Donate money to a local charity, school, food bank. Set up an on site library area with books / magazines, to which people will contribute.

Do you work for a contact centre? Market Research or the like?

That's £1000.

You could get something like a nice coffee maker, a new fridge, microwave etc. Things that benefit everyone.

Do you have aircon? If not then a couple of portable ones would be useful in summer.

Fill the fridge with drinks and stock the cupboard with nice tea and coffee.

I know some people will complain but a stock of hot and cold drinks (nice ones, not Nescafe) will be appreciated by most people.

@justlikebuses , we also only have small area's so they bought retractable barriers that are screwed to the wall and extended when the darts are been played.
I forgot that there is also a box of books 'library'
The box fits about 10/15 books. Anyone can take one home or read it at work on the quiet shifts.
All of the books have been donated by staff , every now and then there is a cull and people donate new books.
Each site has its own library they are swapped around at the same time as the games.

@10ThousandSpoons the dart board has been in use for many years and nobody yet has been daft enough to stab anyone!
The games are moved around the sites by the management teams when the do site visits .

Donate it to a food bank?
Set up a food bank?

@justlikebuses wwwhave a look at this page for suitable barriers, imo Skipper are the better brand.
www.xldisplays.co.uk/categories/Queue-Barriers/Wall-Mounted-Retractable-Barriers/

@10ThousandSpoons , the food bank is a nice idea but it doesn't show the staff how much they are appreciated.

The £250 per site sounds like it could have more impact to enhance employee wellbeing or a raffle/draw to win a larger money prize.

Letting everyone finish one hour early on the Friday, would be massively appreciated you know.

It's a 24/7 type of business so that wouldn't work. I popped a day's holiday into the company raffle last year and management went off on one as it cost overtime to cover the lost shift 🙄

I think by the sounds of this company the staff have some legitimate reasons to be grumpy and uncooperative.

How about spending the £1,000 on some leadership/ employee relations/ progressive HR business practice training for management?

Maybe even organise a series of facilitated sessions which include randomly selected people from all levels and try to work out how to bridge the gap between business needs and job satisfaction. Leaders could be asked to make positive statements about how important staff are and how much they are appreciated as part of the sessions. And then genuinely listen to feedback and commit to taking action on legitimate gripes. That would be a lot more lasting and worthwhile than a token mug to take home.

This thread has been in my head all day while driving round!

The most bang for your buck I can think of is Lottie Shaw cakes/biscuits/treats. They're nice,ly packaged and big enough to take home as a treat for employee/family rather than eat in the office. So would last until people came in on their shift. You can't normally buy them in supermarkets...more of a farm shop/garden centre thing so feel like a proper treat. If anyone doesn't eat sugar etc, it's still a nice thing for them to have and gift to a friend.

On the Lottie Shaw website it's mostly hampers, but there's a treat box/bundle of 10 large items to choose for £37 - includes flapjack (GF?)/tiffin/parkin/treacle tarts/bakewell/caramel shortbread etc. So you could scale up and get lots of those or get in touch with them and see if you can get a bigger discount for volume

Maybe a named gift bag for each employee or leave them to choose. At £3.70 per person you could also cover the gift bags and maybe a few vases of daffodils or banners for the treat table to make a splash of colour and occasion of it

Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but I can't imagine many people turning them down!

I'd do a vote at each site , they have £250 do they want
Tea coffee hamper etc
Lunch bought one day
Microwave/coffee machine
Games /dartboard
Could put on a suggestions bit too as they might have a better idea

Could you do a thing or options of things/ like experiences rather than a small gift.

like someone said they had yoga. I worked somewhere where they had a well-being bus with little ponies and nice things on it on it etc. they also did free for a few sessions and reduced classes at lunch times (so one was yoga in the office) £1000 would get a few yoga classes/ mindfulnessnail painter/ head massager things like that etc?

Hire an ice cream van to come outside the building.

Socks and a mug with hot chocolate.

Ours did a paid 'tuck shop' with crisps and chocolate.

Offer a lie in (come in at 11) or a leave early at 3 at a day of choosing (in agreement with local managers). I know it's more than a fiver but I think people appreciate time.

Ask staff to nominate an employee they appreciate and why - then give prizes in different categories use the £1k that way, has a feel good factor and more meaningful prizes?

Papa John's pizza offer large pizzas for £10. 100 pizzas - £1000, half a pizza per person.

Chocolates / sweets /fancy fudge?

@MrsMidgeMaisel

What if you don't like pizza?

This reminds me of the Trustees Barbeque. I used to work for a charity and there was a huge amount of goodwill from the staff. The trustees decided that they would hold a barbeque for us to show their appreciation. I was a bit perplexed therefore when they sent a list round asking us all to provide an item of food! Tight bastards.

There are memes about workplaces showing appreciation through the medium of pizza though.

@GeneCity

If I had been given half a pizza as a sign of 'appreciation ' I wouldn't have been impressed

Firstly - half a pizza, not even appreciated enough for a while pizza
Secondly- I don't like pizza

The problem with this type of thread is everyone suggests the latest fad or something they would like.