Boosting Employee Morale: A Compilation of Memorable Employer Gestures

As an employer, recognizing employees and showing appreciation goes a long way towards improving productivity, engagement, and retention. In fact, the number one reason employees leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated.

It sounds simple, but there’s an overwhelming number of ways to show appreciation as an employer. Where do you start? How much should you budget? What will make your teams happiest?

We turned to our customers - thriving small businesses with growing teams - for answers. By using Justworks, entrepreneurs are free from the tedium of running payroll, securing benefits, and filing government paperwork. Instead, they can focus on their teams.

So at our customer appreciation event last month, we connected with our customers’ teams and asked:

Q: What is the most meaningful gesture your current employer has made to you or your team?

Meaningful Gestures: Improving Health & Wellness

Sixty percent of employees are likely to take a job with lower pay but better benefits, according to this study. Empowering employees to stay healthy — mentally and physically — keeps your office motivated and happy.

“My employer offered to cover 100% of my benefits premiums!” - Evan Sweet, Controller at BoxBee

“The first is that our employer has given the team is the ability to get healthcare/insurance. The second was PTO that was easy to understand. Lastly, our employer gave us Justworks!!” - Brian Rose, Junior Engineer at Croscon

“Our upper management recently rewarded our team for a quarter of (extra!) hard work by surprising us with 5 extra days of PTO [paid time off] in our Justworks accounts. Woo hoo!” - Meg Rowland, Community Marketing and Editorial Manager at Depop

“My company bought me a bike so I can commute to work.” - Eddie Cheaz, Director of Media Operations at The Nonverbal Group

“Our CEO offered to reimburse some healthcare costs after a change in benefits raised our contributions. It’s a small amount but we couldn’t be more grateful.”- Melissa Silberstang, Member Services Associate at Lot18

Meaningful Gestures: Brightening Team Morale

A fun work environment is “extremely motivating” to 90% of employees surveyed in this Psychology Today study. Whether that’s a small gesture to brighten the office environment or a grand team adventure, integrating fun into employees’ day-to-day pays off.

“We took the entire team in the US and Germany to our London office for a week of team building and fun times!” - Rick Bank, Partner at Renovata Partners

“Shared office dog. Hands down.” - Jon Karolczak, Client Community Manager at Priori Legal

“A meaningful gesture to me was asking me for a beer to just catch up.” - Andrew Utrup, Senior Associate at Renovata Partners

Meaningful Gestures: Company Get-Togethers

As Isaac Oates, our Justworks founder and CEO, said in this Justblog post: “having everyone in one place at the same time feels like such a unifying force.” Regularly spending time together as a company is a powerful tool.

“Making time every Friday for our “All Hands.” A time we never miss and discuss what we’re excited for and thank someone else on the team.” - Chelsea Lynch, Account Manager at Bento Box

“Creating a time every Friday for us to come together and talk about what we are thankful for and excited about within our company.” - Marcus Washington, Designer at Bento Box

“Taking direct feedback in a 1:1 meeting and addressing it in a company meeting.” - Joe Masilotti, Lead Developer at BeerMenus

Want More Employee Appreciation Ideas?

Improving employee morale is key to the success of your business. As such, we’ve written extensively on ways you can improve employee morale. Check out our other resources for more tips on ways to show employees how much you appreciate them:

• Brighten Your Office’s Day-to-Day With 15 Employee Appreciation Ideas

• 10 Affordable Ways to Improve Team Morale

• eBook: 109 Appreciation Ideas to Increase Employee Retention

• Ways to Ensure Your Employees Love Coming to Work

Justworks Can Help

Simple, thoughtful acts of appreciation go such a long way towards improving employee morale. But as a busy entrepreneur, finding the time and resources to do so can feel tough. By automating payroll, giving you access to better benefits, and handling compliance, Justworks helps you take care of your team. Learn more on how Justworks can help here.