Easy Hack to Celebrate Administrative Staff

National Admin Day is in April. What should you do?

Google “administrative staff appreciation ideas” and you’ll get over a million results. But most of those ideas are pretty much the same: a mug, tchotchke, or a cute, funny card. If you’d like to do something different for administrative staff — something that will truly make them feel valued — we’ve got a great suggestion. Best of all, it’s inexpensive and it doesn’t take long.

Here you go — one of the best administrative staff appreciation ideas out there, and it’s just three simple steps.

How Do You Show Appreciation for Administrative Staff? Skip the mug and grab a piece of paper. 

1. Make a List of Everything Your Admin Does

Consider everything, from opening mail to restocking the coffee to dealing with a fussy printer, to knowing where absolutely everything is stored in the office and the Intranet. When you feel like you’re out of ideas, think about how your administrative staff performs their responsibilities, too. Ask yourself:

Do they bring joy to the office? Do they save the day regularly? How do they make clients and co-workers feel? How many people do they help every single day? 

When you are out of ideas, ask a colleague, then ask one more. You might be surprised at how long the list becomes. Many admins handle a huge variety of both routine and random miscellaneous tasks every day. If they’re good at their job, you should end up with a long list of duties that merit praise.

2. Turn Your List into a Message of Thanks

Here’s the secret (and of course, it’s no secret at all): Just like everyone else, admins and receptionists want to know that their hard work is noticed and appreciated. The nature of their job means they’re often supposed to know and do seemingly everything with magical ease. That makes it even more crucial that they know somebody is paying attention.

Take your list and turn it into a message. You could pick out the biggest or most notable items (“Thank you for ensuring the annual report looked excellent for the board meeting”) focus on one or two that meant a lot to you personally (“You saved me when you managed to get food for that meeting so fast!”), or just include the whole list to show that you see everything they do.

Then put it in a cute, funny card with a sweet treats gift certificate.

3. Shower Administrative Staff with Gratitude

Hopefully no one in your organization has a “thankless” job. However, administrative staff are often overlooked for their ability to solve problems with ease and grace. It’s as simple as just giving thanks regularly!

Encourage everyone to jot down their notes of thanks and let the gratitude pile up high! Abundance is more than acceptable if your admins serve as the heartbeat of the office.

Easy + Thoughtful = Impactful! 

Your Free Guide to Building a Culture of Appreciation

Want admin staff and ALL employees to feel valued and appreciated? It takes more than a once-a-year thank you. Building a culture of appreciation, trust, and respect takes time and effort. But it doesn’t have to be a daunting challenge.

That’s why we create our annual “Day-to-Day Employee Celebration Calendar”  – to help workplace leaders nurture a lasting culture of wellbeing and appreciation that employees will love.