5 Meaningful ways to recognise your team at the end of the year

Recognising and celebrating your organisation’s team members is a positive and fun way to end the calendar year. It closes the year on a high note, boosting employee confidence, reinforcing a positive work culture and creating enthusiasm for the coming year.

Not sure the best way to implement employee recognition with so little time left in the year? Let’s explore five achievable ideas you can use in your organisation to acknowledge your team members’ efforts and excite them for the coming year.

1. Provide personalised tokens of appreciation

Building authenticity into your demonstration of gratitude can go a long way in showing someone they are appreciated.

Handwritten personalised notes of gratitude detailing each employee’s contributions and how they have helped the organisation are a good example. Heartfelt messages are always a win and will prove meaningful to the team.

Create a peer-to-peer recognition system by building a physical decorative gratitude tree or digital thank-you wall where employees and leaders can put up appreciation notes and posts. Ensure that the recognition notes have the recipient’s name on them. Consider creating an engaging video to featuring the employee contributions through the year, and extra points for creativity and humour.

2. Reward good work with good experiences

A gift of appreciation for employees can go beyond a box of chocolates. Consider giving the gift of experiences.

Shows and sporting events are perfect for the end of the year, and giving tickets to such an event is a great way to show appreciation. From gift cards to group dinners, there are many different ways to give a fun experience as a gift.

It’s also nice to reward deserving employees with extra days off. Offering them more time for relaxation demonstrates your commitment to a healthy work life. Consider providing them with wellness tools and paying for related experiences such as gym membership, therapy sessions and massage sessions.

3. Host a year-end party

Simple yet incredibly effective, a year-end party is an excellent celebration and recognition idea for employees. By encouraging employees from different departments to interact with one another in a relaxed environment, it dismantles silos and fosters a sense of unity. It also presents an opportunity to acknowledge outstanding team members and set a positive tone for the coming year.

To create a memorable end-of-the-year party, consider basing it on a theme; this will determine any costumes, decorations, activities and playlists. If you have a remote team, virtual celebrations can help. Make an awards ceremony part of the event to spotlight exceptional individual and team contributions.

4. Hold special year-in-review sessions

Reflecting on the year with your team members can be a great way to recognise and celebrate the team’s efforts and wins from the year.

An interesting way to do this is to host interactive multimedia presentations comprising key moments, projects and accomplishments throughout the year. With videos and pictures, you can create an engaging visual story.

Incorporate storytelling sessions and invite employees to discuss their proudest achievements from the year. You could also host a group reflection circle where organisation leaders share their stories of how various employees have improved their performance within the year.

Consider creating trivia games such as quizzes and bingo games based on company milestones and other notable moments from the year.

5. Plan for the coming year

It’s not too soon to start goal-setting for the coming year, and including employee recognition as part of that can inspire motivation.

A vision board is an engaging format to plan for the coming year, and highlight employees who will be a part of any projects. Have the team make their own vision boards, either physical or digital version, to showcase their own goals for the upcoming year. Spotlight each team member’s contribution from the current year as a springboard for the future.

Achievement mapping is another way to foster employee recognition. Create a picture or a map showing achievements for the year and goals for the next year. Place those accomplishments on strategic points to acknowledge employee efforts and connect them to future goals.

This shows how your team members’ efforts in the ending year can help achieve goals in the coming year.

Recognising your team members as the year rolls to a close can be a rewarding experience. To memorably acknowledge their efforts and inspire the team for the coming year,  provide innovative and personalised tokens of appreciation, give meaningful gifts, host a party, reflect on the year and prepare them for next year.