5 Ways to Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day in 2026

Employee Appreciation Day (March 6, 2026) is a perfect time to recognize all your employees, all at once. With 74% of employees seeking inspiration at work, it’s a great day to thank, uplift, and energize them.

While it’s important to recognize and appreciate your people all year long, it’s especially important to celebrate them on Employee Appreciation Day in a fun, heartfelt, and memorable way.

Employees crave inspiration, and recognition can provide it

According to new research from the O.C. Tanner Institute, one-third of employees feel uninspired at work (33%) and don’t want to be working for their current employer a year from now (30%). Only 16% of employees are thriving in their roles. Employees are desperately needing inspiration at work.

Fortunately, employee recognition is a key source of inspiration—73% of employees say receiving recognition inspires them, and when employees are recognized, they are 7x more likely to try new things at work.

Feeling inspired at work leads to big outcomes. Inspired employees are more likely to:

• Promote the company as a great place to work (20x)
• Want to stay (14x)
• Feel fulfilled at work (6x)
• Produce great work (6x)

Employee recognition is the perfect way to spark powerful inspiration.

“There are only two ways to influence human behavior: You can manipulate it, or you can inspire it.”
‍—Simon Sinek, Author and Speaker

Reasons to celebrate everyone on Employee Appreciation Day

Inspiring employees is not the only reason to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day. When employees feel appreciated, there are 5x greater odds of retention, 11x greater odds of engagement, and 15x greater odds of employees doing great work.

When employees are recognized in meaningful ways, the odds of feeling a sense of hope at work to overcome obstacles and meet goals doubles. Employees at organizations with integrated recognition are 10x more likely to say they have inclusive teams and 18x more likely to say their workplace has a healthy performance culture with high expectations and high support.

Appreciation also lowers odds of burnout (-87%), anxiety (-54%), and probable depression (-58%), helping reduce absenteeism, workplace accidents, and formal complaints.

When companies celebrate together, employees are 20x more likely to feel connected and want to stay.

5 ways to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day

1. Recognize employees with a gift they’ll love

Many companies celebrate Employee Appreciation Day by giving a gift to all of their employees. But it can be hard to choose a single gift that every employee will love, so why not let them choose their own? With a program like Select-a-Gift through O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud®, everyone gets to choose the gift they want from a selection of popular items. It’s an inclusive way to reward everyone, no matter how large, diverse, or spread out your workforce is.

Research finds more than 70% of employees want to choose gifts that are meaningful to them when it comes to recognition, and when all employees have equal access to recognition, odds of engagement increase 7x.

2. Celebrate with a Group Points Deposit

When you want to show appreciation to everyone at your organization on Employee Appreciation Day all at once, a Group Points Deposit is a great choice. This option may already be built into your employee recognition platform, as it is in O.C. Tanner’s Culture Cloud.

Group Deposits are perfect for almost any celebration—a company sales or growth milestone, holidays throughout the year, Hospital Week, or countless other appreciation moments—as they are infinitely versatile. Group Deposits are quick and easy to plan and deploy. You can create an immediate, company-wide recognition moment in just a few minutes. It’s the easiest, most equitable way to reward everyone in your organization, all at once.

3. Send an employee appreciation swag box

Consider sending a custom gift that reflects your organization’s culture and history. You can also give branded clothing or gear featuring your company logo—like a long-sleeve tee, a backpack, or a pair of earbuds. Even better, consider giving each employee two or more of these gifts in an appreciation swag box. O.C. Tanner has hundreds of options and gift ideas for swag boxes.

4. Share a special message with employees

It’s important for employees to hear from executives and leaders on Employee Appreciation Day. Encourage leaders to craft messages that let employees know they care about their people, what their work means, and how it translates to the purpose and success of the organization. You could send this message in a company-wide eCard to leadership to make it stand out from a normal email.

For managers, consider writing a personal note or email for each of your team members on Employee Appreciation Day.

• Include details and be specific in how you express your appreciation
• Think about what each individual brings to the team, what you admire about them, or which projects they’ve worked on this year that made an impact
• Highlight their personal achievements

They’ll be glad you took the time to notice who they are and what they do.

5. Spread thanks across the workplace

Prior to the first week of March, ask executives and leaders to answer the question, “Why do you appreciate our employees?” Then on Employee Appreciation Day, post those quotes everywhere. Print them on posters. Show them on shared screens in the break room. Feature them on the front page of your intranet site. Share them on social media. Email them and include them in Zoom meetings. You’ll surround your employees with inspiration and make them feel invaluable. Check this list of quotes for examples.

You can also create a special event to celebrate the occasion. The CEO and other key executives can speak and express their heartfelt thanks to every employee for all they do to help the organization succeed. The event could include a celebration with food or treats as well as the announcement of any special gifts or perks for the day.

See how Delta Air Lines celebrates all their employees through big events and daily recognition.

Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day, and every day, your way

A huge budget is not required to make Employee Appreciation Day meaningful. Consider thoughtful ways to make this year’s Employee Appreciation Day one employees will remember. What’s most important is reaching out to and celebrating all of your employees, no matter where or how they work.

Keep in mind, Employee Appreciation Day isn’t the only day you can show gratitude for your people. Instead, focus on building a year of employee appreciation.

See how Auto Club Enterprises appreciates year-round.

According to Gallup, employees should be recognized or praised every 7 days. So be sure you have a robust employee recognition program where employees and leaders can recognize and appreciate great work any time, anywhere. Other times you should plan special recognition for your people include Nurse’s/Hospital Week, Manufacturing Day, Manager Appreciation Day, Administrative Professionals Day, and major holidays.

‍

Make Employee Appreciation Day 2026 unforgettable. Get started now.