Employee Appreciation Day: how to support your staff’s wellbeing

Employee Appreciation Day takes place on the first Friday of every March.

But with 69% of employees claiming they’d work harder if they felt more appreciated, it should be more than just a one-day event.

From boosting morale to supporting mental health, here’s how you can show your staff you care – all year round.

Encourage a healthy work-life balance

When staff are under too much pressure, they could face burnout – which is a real problem. Burnout is work-related stress that can damage your employees’ personal wellbeing. And not only that, but it leads to negative morale and lower productivity at work.

To avoid burnout, make sure your staff have a healthy work-life balance. Here’s how you can get the balance right in your business:

• Try not to email or contact staff outside working hours
• Make sure your staff take their daily breaks
• Consider flexible remote working (even when restrictions lift)
• Make sure workloads are manageable

And why not consider giving your staff an early finish? While it’s a fun way to say thank you, it will also lift spirits during lockdown.

Always praise your staff’s good work

Employee Appreciation Day is the perfect time to reach out to your staff and say thanks for their hard work.

But when half of UK employees feel underappreciated, it’s also a habit you should keep up for good. Even while you juggle your own to-do-list, remembering to say a quick ‘well done’ can make all the difference to your staff.

And you don’t need to save your praise for those huge projects, either. Thanking your staff for the little things – even if it’s just watering the plants – will keep both morale and productivity high.

Book an employee wellbeing workshop

A wellbeing workshop is a great way to promote positive mental health in your workplace. Whether it’s for Employee Appreciation Day or not, booking a workshop shows you really care about your staff.

From mindfulness to stress management, a workshop will give your staff the tools to stay healthy and happy at work. And on top of the mental health benefits, it can also improve employee performance and reduce sick days – so it’s great for your business, too.

Provide long-lasting support with an EAP

As fun as Employee Appreciation Day can be, it’s not enough to make a one-off fuss and call it a day.

If your staff don’t feel valued on a regular basis, you could struggle with a high employee turnover. And when employee appreciation is low, workplace productivity also takes a dip.

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) shows your staff you care – all the time. If you have an EAP in place, make sure your staff know how to easily access the support.

If you don’t have an EAP, it could be the right time to take that step. With the Peninsula EAP, your team will have access to:

• Face-to-face counselling
• Professional support with a 24-hour helpline
• Helpful online resources for wellbeing
• Expert medical support

It means you can support your staff every day of the year. And as the support is outsourced to wellbeing professionals, you can just get on with running your business.

Discover how our EAP can help your staff today. If you’d like to talk about our EAP in more detail, speak to an expert on 0800 028 2420.