Employee Recognition Ideas
APPA wants to share a few ideas for celebrating the challenging work done in community corrections each day. Most of them are no cost or low-cost and easy to carry out, so try a few this year. Recognition can increase employee retention and morale. Here are some ideas to consider:
For Teams
- Catered Meal. Host a staff breakfast or luncheon and recognize outstanding service and dedication (i.e., new hires, promotions, years of service).
- Sponsored volunteer day. Gather a group of volunteers from your office to spend a couple of hours volunteering (i.e., donating blood, serving food at a homeless shelter, helping at local women's shelter).
- Wellness day. Bring self-care activities to the office such as onsite massages, dance parties, mindfulness sessions, fitness classes, or participate as a team in a community wellness event (i.e., carry torch for Special Olympics, 5K walk/run).
- Social media praise. Create a social media campaign to show appreciation to staff with outstanding service and dedication and use hashtag #PPPSWeek.
- Give back as a team. Organize staff to sponsor a local charity and collect the group’s wish list throughout the year to be donated during PPS Week.
- Host student tour. If your agency is near a college or university, ask instructors to bring a group of students interested in the field of community corrections into the office to see what really happens day-to-day. APPA gets numerous requests each year from students looking to go into community corrections and who ask what the work is really like.
- Participate in a challenge.
For Individuals
- Surprise treats.Provide small gifts to surprise and delight staff (i.e., snacks, candy, cupcakes, business card holders, gift cards).
- Professional gift. Hold a drawing for a paid individual membership or a training registration to a professional association such as APPA.
- Team trophy. The trophy can be any object that’s a reflection of your team’s personality. Vote on which person they believe is deserving of this “trophy” due to their contributions.
- Handwritten note. Write a note of gratitude toward your colleague(s).
- Honor others. Honor deceased and/or injured officers by observing a moment of silence and filling out our “Share A Hero” form.