Your association’s staff are talented, dedicated professionals, and you can retain them with the right recognition efforts. For modern associations, there are many ways to show your staff you appreciate them beyond just saying “thanks” at the end of the day. Plus, going the extra mile doesn’t always mean having to expend extra time and resources either. 

To get your association inspired, here are a few top employee recognition ideas: 

eCards

A thank-you card is a classic way to show appreciation, whether it’s signed by just leadership or the entire office. You can make this classic appreciation strategy faster and more environmentally friendly by using eCards. 

eCards are electronic thank-you cards. To send an eCard to a staff member, you would design your card through your eCard service’s website, enter the recipient’s email address, and send it off. 

You can also use eCards to create a culture of appreciation by encouraging their use in two directions:

• Leadership to staff. As an association leader, you have a lot to manage, and a streamlined way to show your appreciation can help build your staff’s morale without requiring a huge amount of time. 
• Staff to staff. While getting recognized by leadership can go a long way, employees also appreciate recognition from their peers. Make it so all of your staff can send eCards and encourage them to shoot one over to another member of your team whenever they do something that deserves a thank you. 

By making it easier to show appreciation, your entire team can show it more often. When staff members know someone at your association acknowledges all the little things they do to keep your organization running, they’re more likely to stick around. 

Social Media Shoutouts 

A little public recognition can go a long way. By publicizing your staff recognition, you can celebrate their wins and also show off to potential new team members that your organization values its employees. 

When creating a social media shoutout, you’ll need to decide what type of shoutout to do and what platform to post it on. For example, do you want to create an employee spotlight that the recognized staff member contributes to by sharing a few quotes about their experience at your association? Or do you want to create one large post that lists several team members you want to recognize all at once?

Consider the context in which you’re recognizing your staff. For instance, if a specific member of your team is being elevated to a position of leadership, it likely makes more sense to do an individual profile that highlights their achievements. In contrast, for a holiday like International Women’s Day, you may recognize your female staff members together. 

Also, be sure to check in with the team member being recognized before going forward with a social media shoutout. While some may appreciate the publicity, especially on a professional platform like LinkedIn, others may prefer to keep a low online profile and want another type of recognition. 

Charitable Donations

You can appreciate employees and demonstrate your association’s commitment to its values at the same time by making a charitable donation on your staff’s behalf. 

Work with your staff to determine which charitable organizations you should donate to. You can give on an individual basis, make a donation for specific employees to specific causes, or you can set up a more systemized process like a matching gift program. Matching gift programs are a type of corporate philanthropy where a business matches the donations their employees make at a 1:1 ratio. 

Some organizations will match at different ratios or put specific requirements on how much they’ll match, which staff members will have their donations matched, and which causes they will contribute to. For example, many organizations that offer matching gift programs do not match donations to religious organizations. 

Matching gift programs put more power into your staff’s hands to decide what causes they want to support. When your association donates to the causes they believe in, they’ll feel a stronger connection to your organization and appreciate that they’re part of a team that’s committed to doing good in the world. 

Saying thanks can be easy, fast, and meaningful. Talk with your staff to learn how they want to be appreciated, whether it’s through words of thanks or something more tangible. Then, put it into action to build a culture of gratitude and teamwork.