How HR Can Boost Employee Morale With Appreciation Events (Ideas Inside!)

Which of these scenarios would make you feel more appreciated at work? 

Scenario #1: The Event-Free Day

You spend your day at your computer, working away. People occasionally message you about tasks you need to complete or pull you into meetings to discuss ongoing projects. You wrap up the workday quietly and head out. 

Scenario #2: The Fruit Tasting

You spend most of your workday at your computer, but around lunchtime, an invitation appears in your inbox: Join the team in the break room for a free tasting of fresh seasonal fruit. You check out the event and taste a passion fruit, which you’ve never tried before. It’s delicious! 

While you’re snacking, you chat with your coworker about the new TV show you’re watching. Then, on your way back to your desk, your manager waves you over to tell you about the latest client presentation. It turns out your slide deck was a hit. You sit back down at your computer, finish your work, and head home.  

The Clear Winner

You chose Scenario #2, right? When you imagine yourself in these situations, it’s easy to see how appreciation events—or any events!—can help HR boost employee morale. 

No one wants to feel like a cog in a machine, and employee appreciation events help keep that feeling away. But they also do more than that. Here’s a quick breakdown of how events help teams feel happier and make them more productive, too. 

How HR Can Boost Employee Morale with Appreciation Events

It’s clear that employee appreciation events are morale boosters—but why? There are actually a lot of things that make them so effective. Here’s the shortlist. 

Events give employees the opportunity to: 

• Take a break 
• Connect with peers 
• Talk to their manager
• Feel seen and heard
• Be appreciated

These benefits are a big deal because they all have positive correlations. 

• Employees who take breaks tend to have 62% better work-life balance, 43% greater ability to manage stress, and 43% more overall satisfaction than their peers
• Employees who have a best friend at work are more efficient workers, more likely to engage with customers and internal partners, better at innovating and sharing ideas, and more likely to have fun at work 
• Employees who get valuable feedback about their performance from the people they work with are 57% less likely to burn out

Now that you can see how employee appreciation events help HR boost morale, it’s time to start planning! 

13 Employee Appreciation Ideas to Try This Fall and Winter

Some of these ideas are big and some are small, but they’ll help break up the workday routine and give your team a chance to connect with their managers and peers. 

1. Plan an Outdoor Adventure

Invite your team to bond with each other and boost their wellbeing on an outdoor adventure, like a nature walk, hike, or guided kayak trip! Pack snacks for the road, and encourage employees to chat with at least three of their coworkers while they hike. You can even give them icebreaker questions to help them get started. 

2. Move a Meeting Outside

Skip the conference room and move your next team meeting to your office’s courtyard, lawn, or a nearby park. The fresh fall air will help your team relax and leave them feeling energized. For bonus points, finish the meeting with a round of Positive Focus (POFO) where each employee shares something they’re looking forward to/feeling good about that day. 

3. Book a Fruit Tasting

Work with The FruitGuys to plan a fruit tasting for your office of local, unique, or seasonal fruits. You can do spooky fruit for Halloween, festive fruit for the holidays, or red and pink fruit for Valentine’s Day! Our event planning team can deliver the fruit and help run the event, too. 

4. Connect Across Departments

Boost connection by hosting “field trips” between departments. When marketing visits sales and learns how they work, they’ll understand the whole company better and feel more invested. They’ll also feel more seen, heard, and valued for their work. 

5. Host a Gratitude Takeover

Ask your team to share notes of gratitude and other kind words about their coworkers, then read them in a company meeting. This is a great way to help everyone feel valued and connected, especially if managers join in and celebrate each person on their teams. 

6. Take a Group Snack Break

Schedule a time for individual departments or your whole team to meet in the break room and snack together. You can order a case or two of bulk snacks from The FruitGuys to share! Most of our snacks come from mission-minded brands, so consider sharing the brand’s story for a feel-good moment and to give everyone a topic to discuss. 

To see which bulk snacks are available in your region, visit our Marketplace by the Case page, then reach out to customer service to ask about snack stories. 

7. Volunteer Together

Make a list of local organizations with volunteer opportunities, and ask your team to vote for their favorite. Then, plan a volunteer day to build teamwork, empathy, and communication skills! Everyone celebrates the holidays differently, but we can all agree they’re a great time to give back. VolunteerMatch.org is a great place to start looking for opportunities.

8. Host a Decorating Contest

Encourage teamwork by challenging each department in your office to decorate their cubicles, offices, or common spaces for the holiday season—then vote on a winner! You can do this for Halloween, Thanksgiving, the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day, or Lunar New Year, whatever will resonate most with your employees. 

9. Celebrate Successes Together

Schedule a meeting to recap everything your team accomplished this year, from crushing revenue goals to making charitable donations. Hand out snacks and encourage employees to thank their peers who have helped them throughout the year. If your company has core values, you can even vote on which team member embodied each one the previous year and announce the winners at the meeting.

10. Schedule an On-Site Farmers Market

Work with The FruitGuys to bring a variety of fresh, local veggies to your office and encourage employees to fill a bag to take home. You can even invite a local farmer to participate. Your team will feel appreciated, have time to chat and swap recipes, and fuel their workdays with healthy, whole foods. 

11. Collaborate on a Holiday Playlist

Ask everyone on your team to submit their favorite holiday songs and collect them in one playlist. Then, use the playlist at team gatherings and email it out for all to enjoy (and discuss). This will help your employees feel seen and give them a chance to connect in a universal language—music! Bonus point if you make the playlist the soundtrack to your company holiday party and pass out employee appreciation gifts. 

12. Plan a Holiday Trivia Contest

How much do Americans spend on gifts every year? Which president first celebrated Hanukkah in the White House? How many reindeer does Santa have? Split your employees into teams for a friendly and inclusive holiday competition and pass out snacks to fuel the fun.

13. Create a New Team Tradition

Show your appreciation for your employees by asking them how they’d like to celebrate. Do they want to do a cookie swap? Is a holiday scavenger hunt through the office their jam? Or would they rather share their favorite holiday memories over lunch? You’ll never know unless you ask, and they’ll feel heard when you do. 

Final Takeaways and Further Reading

These are just a few ideas to help you bring your employees together this season. There’s no right or wrong one—any option you choose is a step toward a happier, healthier, more engaged team. And we’re here to help with event planning if you need us. 

Want to get more ideas for boosting employee morale with appreciation? You might like these blog posts. 

• Budget-Friendly Employee Appreciation Ideas for Thrifty HR Teams
• Are Employee Appreciation Events Tax-Deductible?
• Employee Recognition vs. Appreciation: Why They Matter and How to Take Action
• How to Recognize Your Team: Employee Appreciation Questionnaire Templates
• Employee Recognition Best Practices for Employee Appreciation Day
• Why Employee Appreciation Gifts Matter
• 7 Times a Year to Give Employee Appreciation Gifts