Amazing Virtual Employee Appreciation Ideas for Your Business

Virtual employee appreciation ideas are not necessarily at the top of strategic planning for many businesses. However, given the landscape created by remote work, it is vital to provide adequate support to your employees in their home offices, so you can effectively improve employees productivity. 

Just as staff members enjoy feeling recognized and appreciated in a traditional office context, you also need to give the required attention to virtual staff appreciation if you intend on retaining your workforce in any manner.

Remote work appreciation gifts can be used, but remember that not everything has to cost the business. Your best bet is to implement a hybrid of paid and free virtual recognition ideas in a system that encourages staff members to do their best.

Do you need some thought starters to get the ball rolling? If so, consider the suggestions below that remind your workers that their contributions are valued and seen by the management team. 

Office Equipment Overhaul

While you may not believe it, staff members can get demotivated by not having the required equipment and furniture to get the job done. Some companies are under the impression that they do all they can by ensuring that the physical workspace is taken care of. If you can accommodate it in your budget, you may want to consider helping your staff members with a home office standing desk and an ergonomic office chair.

Even if you cannot accommodate the purchase without charging the staff members back, you can still help them and communicate that you are interested in their comfort and health. It does not need to be the best ergonomic chair or electric standing desk either. 

What you can do is gather some prices and equipment variations and send them to your staff members so they can choose. Communicate that this is either a subsidized purchase or a loan and let them make the decision to repay in small parts.

There is no need for you to add any interest, as this is not meant to be a profitable venture for the business. Whether you buy the items in full or do it on a reimbursement basis, your team is bound to feel appreciated. If you want to sweeten the pot, why not throw in some standing desk accessories while you are at it? 

Coupons and Discounts

Do you know who likes to save money? Everyone! So, why not help your employees feel appreciated by assisting them in saving some money on various purchases that they make. It is one of the most practical virtual employee appreciation ideas. The first way to do this is by providing coupons. The question is, where are you expected to get coupons from? Well, as a business, if you reach out to certain organizations, such as restaurants and supermarkets about a potential gift for your employees, you can work out a deal that leads to some incredibly effective coupons for your workforce.

When people get the opportunity to save some cash, they are not going to forget the reason they managed to save. Guess what that means for your business if it is the reason?

Discounts work in the same way, as all you would be required to do is develop a business relationship with the company providing the said discounts. The gift of money, even indirectly, is one of the best gifts for remote employees. 

Virtual Shout-outs

Remember the whole point about everything not needing to cost the business? There is almost no excuse to not use this virtual staff appreciation idea as it costs nothing but a little time. If you have a set of employees who are doing well, there should be no reason that you cannot take a moment to send a virtual shout-out, maybe via virtual team bonding.

The virtual employee appreciation idea here is to acknowledge the good work using a positive reinforcement method that all other staff members can see. Not only do you establish what exemplary conduct looks like and create a sense of motivation, but you also satisfy the human need for recognition. 

Virtual Awards Ceremony

The virtual awards ceremony is one of those virtual employee appreciation ideas that takes a bit of planning to get right. However, it follows the same principle as virtual shout-outs. The idea here is to give employee performance recognition in the same way, but it requires that something be handed over to those being awarded.

So, you could go about this in two ways. The first is that you could have a physical and electronic version of the award that you are presenting. Have all employees join the session virtually and present the electronic version during the ceremony. Thereafter, arrange for the physical version to be delivered to the staff members who are receiving them.

Alternatively, you could have a socially distanced physical award ceremony inviting only the awardees. You could then stream the festivities for other employees to watch and participate in. 

Personal Development Offerings

Personal development is one of life's rewards, and you can take advantage of that principle to make it one of your virtual employee appreciation ideas. Naturally, the jobs that your staff members do are likely to have certifications associated with them. While you should encourage employees to get these, it is not easy to use them as rewards, since they would be more for the purpose of the company than for the purpose of the employee.

Alternatively, when you want to reward a staff member with a personal development offering, you could opt to ask the person what kind of courses he or she is interested in. That way, if you are going to be paying for an educational offering, you end up choosing one that the person receiving the gesture is interested in. 

Make Long Vacation Allowances

Even if your company tradition was centered around giving gifts and tokens in a physical context, the virtual context no longer allows for that. When thinking about virtual recognition ideas, you can take advantage of things that already exist and make them better.

A vacation falls under this category. One of the most comforting things you can do to reward a staff member is to approve a longer vacation than normal. This ensures that rewarded persons come back refreshed, and they get to take effective breaktime to improve the personal side of their lives.