Level Up Leadership

With the end of the year approaching, now is a great time for recognizing employees who have gone above and beyond in 2015. Celebrating team success is an important part of showing your gratitude and appreciation for all that your employees do. As you look back over the accomplishments of the year and the biggest goals that were achieved, consider these five ways that you can go about rewarding employees this month:

1. An end of the year party

The holiday office party is a great time to call out the successes of your organization. You can focus in on big targets that were reached or highlight individual accomplishments. Office-wide holiday parties are a great opportunity to show your appreciation for every last person’s efforts in a broad, inclusive way. Put a little extra effort into this year’s holiday party to show just how much you appreciate everyone’s efforts.

2. Personal meetings

Schedule a short meeting with every person who reports to you. In that meeting, take a moment to acknowledge all of the successes that person has had over the year and to express your gratitude. You can also use this opportunity to talk about future goals of each employee and how you can help them make those aspirations a reality. At the end of each meeting, encourage each employee to do the same thing with their direct reports.

3. A team dinner

In business, very few things are accomplished by a single person. Take the time to appreciate the group efforts of your team by treating everyone to a nice dinner. Make a toast to the year’s accomplishments, and give your team the chance to revel in their success. This kind of celebration helps build self-esteem and gives team members a chance to bond outside of the workplace.

4. Positive meetings

Give your employees a chance to celebrate themselves by starting each meeting with a period of celebration. Open up the floor and encourage anyone who wants to announce a success they had over the previous week or month. This is a great way for employees to feel appreciated by one another and also recognize the importance of their own contributions.

5. Create a celebration board

Dedicate a corkboard or a wall to celebrating each other’s accomplishments. Allow employees to write things that they’ve seen each other do around the office that go above and beyond. This gratitude wall will help foster a culture of appreciation and celebration within your organization and give your employees a chance to be kind to one another.