Motivation and Employee Appreciation Events

In my opinion, the most challenging event planning tasks are those in which your own staff participates. Staff meetings prove a little less tricky due to the fact that you are addressing business related issues and/or staffing concerns. The one staff event that I hear most coordinators complain about planning is a staff appreciation event. To me, that is irony at its best. Here we have a fun, exciting and refreshing event to plan for the people some of us see more than our own families and yet it provides stress and anxiety to the person planning it.

The reasoning behind why it's such a trigger for stress lies in the fact that it's challenging to engage and enthuse staff members about anything other than a pay raise or a day off, it seems. Not to worry! There are still fun-loving staff members out there who relish the thought of being praised and rewarded for all of their hard work and effort. The difficulty is in the planning and executing a staff appreciation event that motivates, empowers and excites them about their job and their company. Here are a few tips:

Enlist the Help of the Company Enthusiasts

It is easy to identify the enthusiasts at your office (hopefully you are one of them). You know the ones: they enter with a smile and "good morning." The ones who are always willing and cheerfully helping out in any way needed or who end their phone calls with, "thanks, have a great day!" The people who really enjoy what they are doing and are productive. Those are the people you want on your side when planning a staff appreciation event. They will be your cheerleaders and will generate conversation in the weeks approaching the event. With any luck, their excitement will catch on to even the grouchiest of cubicle dwellers.

Offer Up Freebies

I know it sounds bad but even I am guilty of falling for the free gift gimmick. You tell me I'll receive some sort of free goody and you can consider me there. It is not uncommon to find door prizes or drawings at staff events. For a recent event, I generated a color flyer showcasing the prizes that I hung up in the lounge. This way, your staffers are discussing which door prizes they are going to go for over their chicken salad. Another tip in the freebie arena is to have one "secret" door prize (usually the item with the highest value) to be unveiled at the event. People generally get excited imagining what the prize could be.

Feed Them

I would consider this a sort of "no-brainer," but keep in mind that the better you feed them, the happier they are. Of course there are many things to consider including the budget, the size of the company, whether it is a family event and the type of event planned. The options are endless when choosing cuisine and beverages but you want to make sure there is more than enough to go around. Do bear in mind that many of these events encourage staffers to bring along their families, so a food that suits the tastes of both adults and children would most likely be the best fit.

Hopefully you'll find these tips from my experiences helpful. But if the stress is still lingering, just remember that these types of events are supposed to be a fun experience for the staff (including the planner!) to feel appreciated for all they do.