Virtual Employee Appreciation Ideas

It doesn’t matter how big your company is or what industry you’re in: One of your top priorities will always be to retain top talent. Reducing turnover reduces overall costs, improves your ROI, and helps you build a team that continues to grow. 

However, in today’s world, you can’t just offer great benefits and a starting salary. Employees want more than that. They want to be engaged, recognized, and appreciated for everything they contribute to the workplace. 

Studies suggest that a lack of recognition and engagement contributed to 44% of employees changing jobs and quiet quitting. However, with the help of our virtual employee appreciation ideas, you can help your team feel recognized and make the workplace a better place for everyone. Read on to learn everything you need to know about showing appreciation for your team.

How to show virtual employee appreciation

The right employee appreciation events and experiences can help your company improve workplace satisfaction and retain top talent. The best part? There's a variety of ways to do so. 

Let’s take a closer look at ten virtual employee appreciation ideas that will be a hit with any team.

Put together care packages

Working remotely can get lonely. Remote work can cause employees to lose connection with their team members. The best way to show you care and appreciate everything they do, no matter where they are, is with a care package. These care packages can contain goodies, gift cards, and company swag. For an even more personal touch, include a thank you note to remind them that you appreciate what they do and their contributions to your company’s success.

A care package can contain just about anything, but some tried and true favorites include:

• Snacks
• Gift cards
• Water bottles
• Hats
• Branded t-shirts
• Thank-you notes
• Coffee mugs

The open-ended nature of care packages means you’re free to get creative! Whether you’re celebrating a holiday, employee anniversary, retirement, or particular milestone, your team will feel valued and appreciated.

Throw a Paint Party

After your team has spent countless hours trying to reach their goals and increase sales, they deserve to sit back, relax, and paint. A virtual paint party invites your team to mix, mingle, and channel their inner artist.

Prior to the event, each employee will receive a painting kit delivered directly to their door. Then, on a joint video call, an instructor will walk the team through step-by-step instructions to create their own masterpiece, followed by a show-and-tell where they can share their creations. This is an experience your team will cherish for years to come – and they’ll always have a beautiful painting to remind them of the memory.

Pro tip: Employee appreciation day is March 3rd. If you’re looking for fun and interactive employee appreciation day virtual ideas, you can’t go wrong with a paint party!

Create a Shoutout Channel

If you have Slack, consider setting up a shoutout channel. These channels will work as an outlet for encouraging words, shoutouts, and recognition among team members. With a shoutout channel, you never need to worry about an employee’s work going unnoticed. Individuals can share when someone went out of their way to help on a project, left an impact on a client, or put together a great presentation not everyone saw. This is a great way to promote a positive workplace culture and celebrate the small wins.

Plan a Virtual Happy Hour

Virtual happy hours are guaranteed to bring your team together, encourage bonding, and reward them for their contributions and hard work. They remind your team they are a member of a supportive community that wants to see them succeed and thrive.

Instead of going to the trouble of planning everything from start to finish, consider booking one of our preplanned experiences, like our Shake Up Happy Hour, in which your team will learn how to make three craft cocktails together. They’ll receive a 7-piece professional bartender tool set delivered right to their door and will have an opportunity to ask a professional mixologist any questions they have throughout the experience.

Mental Health Day

One of the best ways to show your team you appreciate them is by caring for their mental health. Mental health days are also referred to as “dark days” – PTO days outside of the standard accrued time off. Providing your team with extra PTO is a great way to show you care and appreciate all the work they do for your company. With this extra PTO day, you’re giving your team permission to rest, recuperate, and focus on their own well-being.

Remote Cooking Class

There’s no better way to show virtual employee appreciation than by teaching your team a new skill or two. A virtual cooking class invites your team to test and enhance their skills in the kitchen. It’s a great way to bond and connect with coworkers over something that isn’t work-related, and everyone will end the event with delicious food or snacks they can share with their friends and family.

If you want to plan a virtual cooking class as your employee appreciation idea, why not try something different and out-of-the-box, like our Chocolate Candy Making Class. How often do you get the chance to learn how to make delicious treats and then eat them afterward? We’ll send your team members everything they need to succeed, as well as an optional shopping list to expand their options. Our chef will show them how to craft delicious, professional-grade treats all on their own.

Handwritten Thank-You Notes

In this digital age, handwritten notes can go a long way. At the end of every month or quarter, take some time to write out a few handwritten notes and send them to your employees. These are different from an email or a quick slack message; a handwritten note shows you went out of the way to show the recipient that you care. 

Think about the individuals who went out of their way to help on a project, exceeded their monthly sales goals, or simply excelled as team players. Handwritten notes are also a great way to send work anniversary messages and birthday cards. Consider sending out 2–3 handwritten notes at the end of every month to improve the relationship between employees and the company.

Virtual Wine Tasting

There’s no better way to show you appreciate someone than with a delicious glass of wine! A virtual wine tasting experience invites your team to connect and cherish the sweet flavors of wine together. If you’re new to wine tasting: we recommend our Guided Happy Hour with Wine & Pairings.

Your team will receive a kit that contains three hand-selected bottles of wine, cheese, and cured meats. Together, you'll explore the different flavors and enjoy gourmet hors d'oeuvres that perfectly complement the different flavors and aromas.

Create a Master Community Calendar

A community calendar is an excellent tool for keeping everyone informed about milestones, achievements, birthdays, and other significant events. You can add work anniversaries, holidays, and the virtual employee appreciation ideas you have planned for the upcoming month. With a master calendar, everyone has access to, you can rest assured that every significant moment will get the recognition it deserves.

Have a Virtual Game Night

Games are an exciting, even thrilling, way to unwind after a busy workday. What better way to celebrate accomplishments or a successful sales month than with a virtual game night? Whether you’re planning an escape room or want to schedule a TV game showdown, you can rest assured that your team will love every minute of the virtual experience. If it’s successful, you might consider scheduling a virtual game night every quarter and trying out different games every time. That way, your team never gets bored and always has something to look forward to.

How do these ideas for virtual employee appreciation work?

Never underestimate the power of appreciation. Whether you write handwritten thank-you notes or plan a virtual wine-tasting experience, these ideas have the power to keep your team engaged, entertained, and happy with their current job. 

Every effort, no matter how big or small, will remind them that they are more than just another employee: They are an appreciated part of the team. If employees feel like part of something bigger, they are less likely to start looking for new opportunities elsewhere. 

For the best results, consider planning events or activities for virtual employee appreciation at least every quarter, if not every month. If one of your employees goes out of the way or deserves extra recognition, do something special just for them! Trust us; even small signs of appreciation won't go unnoticed. 

Not sure which activity or idea your team will enjoy the most? Survey them to get a pulse on their likes and dislikes. This way, you'll have a pool of ideas to pull from when you're ready to plan something special for your team.

Upgrade Your Employee Experience with Elevent

Employee appreciation is a must-have if you want to retain top talent and improve productivity levels in the real or virtual workplace. Taking the time to demonstrate employee appreciation for remote workers will help you improve the employee experience by recognizing your team for all of their contributions to your success. 

Don't feel like there's enough time in the day to plan exciting ideas for employee appreciation? We're here to help. At Elevent, we have a variety of preplanned experiences and events you can use to recognize and appreciate your team. Once you find an event and pick a date, we'll handle all the planning for you, so you can join in on the fun and get time back in your day to focus on bigger things. 

Contact us today to start planning your next virtual employee appreciation event.

Originally published at Jan 18 2023, 12:23:36 PM. Updated on May 4 2024.