The Covid pandemic may have kickstarted remote work, but four years later, virtual teams have proven they’re here to stay. About 22 million adults in the U.S. work from home, and more than 20% of Americans will work remotely by 2025 according to the Pew Research Center.
But with growing numbers of remote workers, how do employers maintain the same positive work culture and social interactions? How do you celebrate success at work? How do you wish a co-worker a happy birthday? Congratulate them on getting married, or a new addition to the family? Have a night out after work?
Working remotely has changed these things, and it’s not as easy to celebrate with them or thank them for their hard work. Thinking outside the box is necessary to make sure your remote team feels appreciated.
Virtual Employee Appreciation Ideas
Virtual engagement innovation has moved quickly with new ideas sprouting left and right. We’ve listed below our favorite employee engagement ideas for remote workers — everything from shared experiences to online thank you gifts.
1. Send an invite, group card, or video!
Make it official.
So you’ve already booked that virtual event, your first social distancing meeting, a night out, or observing a holiday – get your group excited with an official virtual invite! Sites like Punchbowl, Evite, Greenvelope, or Paperlesspost can help you create quick and easy ecards with templates and rsvp tracking too.
Design a KudoBoard.
Acknowledge and celebrate any special occasion by attaching messages, photos, GIFs, or videos to the recipient’s Kudoboard. Bring your team members together and foster a sense of community and fun with this reimagined version of the classic greeting card that is passed around your team to personalize and sign, and delivered to their inbox and is accessible forever.
Send a virtual group card.
With some working from home still, or others in the office, it will be more difficult to send a classic card. Luckily, there are multiple platforms to send virtual group cards, that make it easy for everyone to sign with a link. Sites like GroupGreeting, OpenMe, or GroupGreets make it cost-efficient and simple to set-up and send to that special someone.
Create an animated ecard.
Find your favorite flash animations, dancing ecards, and videos with JibJab. This works by uploading your faces to create your very own customized, hilarious virtual video or animation your friends and co-workers won’t forget.
2. Take your traditional employee appreciation ideas virtual.
All your classic work celebration ideas whether it be a night out or an office party, have all left us searching for other alternatives. We have some tried and true virtual celebrations for employees to bring all the best experiences to you remotely.
Deliver champagne to their doorstep!
Do you miss Friday happy hour? Celebrate a birthday, or a successful project at work virtually by delivering champagne to their doorstep. TeamBonding’s Virtual Happy Hour or Wine Tasting is flexible and customizable for your team’s needs or preferences. You can even make plans to have cocktail kits delivered to team members so they can craft the perfect mixed drink together—along with the help of an expert mixologist—without leaving home.
S’ mores and campfires.
Combined with our delectable artisan s’ mores kit, your group can enjoy live music, interactive ghost stories of local legends, fun competitions, and trivia around a virtual campfire.
Laugh more, stress less.
The perfect mood-booster is laughing. Mix that with yoga and you’re in for one great lunch break or after work Laughter Yoga session with your team.
Give them a game hour (or two!)
Another great idea to show employee appreciation is to remind your remote team how much fun they have together. Games like Virtual Jeopardy!®, Anything Goes, In it To Win It, or Survey Says can be customized as an icebreaker or a traditional trivia challenge. With a learning curve that’s close to zero, it’s guaranteed to engage everyone. With official Jeopardy! theme music, voice-overs, and sound effects, your team is guaranteed to laugh and have a blast in no time.
3. Send an online thank you gift
It is so important to make sure your virtual team is engaged and feels appreciated. Has your team been working long hours? Did they go the extra mile working hard on a project? Nothing is more successful in boosting employee morale than simply saying thank you.
Coffee or Ice Cream never fails.
Mail or email a gift card. If you have an address handy, add a personal touch by sending them a gift card in the mail. If you prefer, you can also send it via email.
Appreciation Kits
Say thank you by sending your team employee appreciation kits with goodies or items that are sure to make them smile.
Traditional Gift Baskets
Celebrate a promotion, or team success with a gourmet basket! Schedule a gift basket to be delivered to their door from their favorite (or your favorite) specialty shop.
A little appreciation for your employees can go a long way and we hope these virtual staff appreciation ideas were helpful! Luckily, there are tons of virtual team building activities to keep your remote team engaged and appreciated!
Have fun celebrating your team!
