5 Unique Summer Employee Appreciation Ideas

Employee appreciation is vital to maintaining happy and productive workers. People want to know that their hours and days of hard work are not going unnoticed. During the summer months, there are unique ways to show appreciation that you might not have thought of before.

1. Consider having “Summer Hours” for your employees

Summer is a great time to relax with family and friends. The kids are out of school, people are taking vacations, spending more money and time on leisure activities, and much more. Introducing “Summer Hours”, such as a shortened Friday, work from home day, or something similar to that is a great way to recognize your employees’ hard work and give them an early start to their weekend. This change helps lead to more well-rested, lower-stress level employees who are doing better work and enjoying life more overall. 

2. Provide lunch one day of the week

As previously mentioned, summer is a season of doing and experiencing, which some people may see as an expensive time of the year. Whether it be the cost of child care or vacations, summer expenses add up quickly. With your employees likely spending more money, providing lunch is a great way to show that you appreciate them. It takes the time of making lunch the night before or the cost of getting fast food away. There are creative ways to do this, for a remote workforce, consider sending an UberEats or DoorDash gift card. 

3. Create Summer-special campaigns 

Competition can be useful in a work setting. It can foster community with teams working together and friendly competition can push productivity to new levels.  Creating a reason to be the best during the summer can take away the repetition of days during the summer months and turn it into a competition. The end reward can be whatever you’d like; A special award, a week of PTO, event tickets, etc. This leads to healthy competition that keeps everyone engaged and connected.

4. Consider a Summer incentive

There are always different ways and times for incentives; end of the year, performance-based, quarterly, etc.  An unexpected incentive can drastically change employees, moods, work ethics, etc; or continue to reinforce their already great habits. An unplanned bonus of recognition whether monetary or not is always welcome. 

5. Have classic Summer food brought into the office

Food again? Yes! No matter what food comes to mind when you think of Summer, it’s always a nice small surprise to see your favorite summer spread of watermelon, popsicles, and more spread amongst the break room.  It lets your employees know that you care, and you’re thinking of ways to keep them happy. It goes a long way and can be done on any budget, which is why this one is a great option.