Tired of reworking the same reminders to encourage recognition and spread positivity every month? Here are 12 campaign ideas for your upcoming year.
Creating a culture of appreciation and positivity involves everyone at your organization. Although recognition is an easy action, reminders are essential to keep the momentum going. But writing up the same stale reminders month after month can be boring to read and exhausting to create.
Add some excitement to your program communications by turning them into an engaging monthly campaign – relevant to the calendar of what’s actually happening in the company, the world, and your employees’ lives.
Here are twelve ideas to get you started:
JANUARY
New Way. New Day. Appreciation.
The new year is when we make fresh starts and build new habits. But did you know it’s also National Mentoring Month? That makes it a superb moment to remind your employees to reach out to one another with words of feedback, encouragement, and appreciation. Encourage workers to create new ways of connecting and embedding recognition into their every day activities. Be sure to note who is giving recognition to others and walk the walk by recognizing and rewarding those mentors and cultural energizers.
FEBRUARY
Grateful for Our Diversity
February is Black History Month, and it’s likely you’ll already be incorporating important diversity and inclusion messages into your communications. Remind employees that recognition and gratitude are also an important part of inclusion and encourage them to use your program as a way to reach out to one another and show their appreciation. Don’t forget to use Community Celebrations® to underscore and elevate the work of your ERGs.
MARCH
Celebrating the Impact of Women
March is the perfect time to recognize the women who are making an impact on us at work. Women’s History Month provides a focus to help elevate and appreciate the contributions of women. March 4 is also Employee Appreciation Day. Empower employees to acknowledge not only women on their teams, but everyone who has contributed to their success, by recognizing and saying thank you to the best people they work with. Be sure to download our Employee Appreciation Day toolkit for resources and templates!
APRIL
Healthy Habits
April 7 is World Health Day, and April 22 is Earth Day – which makes April a wonderful time to focus on health and well-being for ourselves and the world around us. Did you know recognizing others increases engagement, retention, and well-being? Orient your April communications around developing healthy habits that benefit ourselves and our communities.
MAY
Celebrate Cultural Diversity
If there is a month that most encourages us to recognize, embrace and celebrate our differences – surely it is May! May is the month that hosts days from Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you!), to Cinco de Mayo (5/5), to International Workers Day (5/1), and even Geek Pride Day (5/25) – as well as the UN’s World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (5/21) and International Day for Biological Diversity (5/22). Kick off a monthlong campaign in May that celebrates cultural differences across your organization. Encourage employees to invite someone new to collaborate and live your values around inclusion, diversity, and belonging.
JUNE
Show Pride in Your Community
June is Pride Month, in which we celebrate and show support for our LGBTQIA+ employees. It’s a wonderful reason to recognize the entire spectrum of humans in your organization and celebrate the richness of that cultural tapestry – and the individuals that make it up. June is a terrific month for your communications to draw attention to Life Events® – and the way they encourage employees to bring their whole selves into the workplace with pride. You could also take a moment to ask employees to recognize a contribution or achievement that they know a colleague is super proud of in honor of Pride month.
JULY
Capture the Moment
A picture is worth a thousand words. Adding a photo or video to your recognition moment makes it more memorable – and what better time to remind people than everyone’s favorite vacation month: July. Encourage your employees to upload their team photos to Community Celebrations and to add photo and video to create awards with extra impact. Get your smiles on and make every recognition moment more memorable and meaningful.
AUGUST
Relax, Reflect, and Reward
August is a popular month for vacation time around the world, where everyone is taking a long collective breath before jumping back into school and the bustle of the autumn and holiday season. It’s a perfect time to encourage employees to be mindful and to turn their attention to self-care and reflection. Remind employees of some of the wonderful options available in the store that can help them enjoy the last days of summer and give themselves a well-deserved treat. Showcase heartwarming redemption and recognition stories from employees and encourage people to extend their recognition experience through redemption. As they take a breath and reflect, encourage employees to recognize those who have helped them and to use Conversations® to ask for feedback on areas they are trying to improve.
SEPTEMBER
World Gratitude Day
Wednesday, September 21 is World Gratitude Day – when the world recognizes the importance of being thankful and expressing our gratefulness. Share some of the health and well-being benefits of being grateful with your organization. Encourage them to use every Wednesday in September to recognize at least one colleague who has had a positive influence on their work or well-being. Then challenge them to keep that habit up all year long! We will publish a World Gratitude Day toolkit with templates and visual resources, so keep an eye open over the summer for that.
OCTOBER
Customer Service Celebration
Customer Service Week is celebrated during the first week of October! Encourage your employees to deliver quality service to our clients and ask them: Who do you think deserves special recognition for excellent customer service? Reinforce your company values around customer service and remind employees to express appreciation and give a special shoutout to their colleagues who best embody those values. Check out this toolkit for some resource ideas.
NOVEMBER
Gratitude and Giving Tuesday
It’s likely you already talk a lot about gratitude in November. Extend that conversation even further to tell employees about Giving Tuesday, which occurs annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Giving Tuesday is a counterpoint to the consumerism and excitement of Black Friday and Cyber Monday – and is a wonderful way for people to return to the basics of gratitude and consider the communities we serve and live in. Ask employees: Who might benefit from your rewards? They might repurpose rewards to thank friends and family, or they can use your program to donate to charities through Benevity, Global Giving, and Charity Choice, among others.
DECEMBER
A Season of Good Will
When we think of December, it is often about gifts. Remind employees that meaningful, frequent, peer-to-peer recognition is probably the most precious and important gift they can give. Recognition and appreciation make people feel welcomed and included – and December is the perfect time of year for reaching out to remind people they matter to you. Give workers permission to look back over the previous year and recognize those who have contributed to their experience and the success of your company. Look for our Season of Giving toolkit in October.
Looking for templates, visuals, and ideas to help guide your communications all year long? Download a copy of our Employee Appreciation Day toolkit, or reach out to your account team to talk about the right strategies and inspiration for your organization.
