Spring is here! Follow these simple Easter workplace tips for a joyous celebration of the season. (Photo via Rachel Kramer, Flickr)
Easter is fast approaching, followed by Easter Monday, and it’s the perfect time to liven up your workplace with a celebration.
As we covered earlier this week, a workplace Easter celebration is still a great idea, regardless of employee religion.
Easter marks the beginning of spring! The weather is getting warmer, trees are budding and flowers are blooming.
Significantly, Easter also honors the sense of renewal and gratitude that accompany the new season.
With outdoor activities beckoning and many families distracted by spring break vacations, Easter is a great time to boost engagement.
Appreciation is the fastest way to re-engage distracted employees — a simple “Thank You” card accompanied by an Easter-themed gift or a fun, low-key celebration of your workplace team will re-energize everybody! Read on for Easter workplace tips to help you create a fun and meaningful celebration with employees.
7 Easter Workplace Tips
Follow these Easter workplace tips and celebration ideas to engage and thank employees.
#1. Decorate and celebrate with cultural symbols of Easter, not religious symbols.
“No sheaves of palms or crucifixes allowed,” writes HR expert and TalentCulture founder Meghan Biro in her blog post “5 Tips to Keep Religion in Its Place in the Workplace.” Bunnies, ducks, candy, chocolate, colorful eggs, flowers and other items commonly associated with Easter shouldn’t offend anyone, she adds.
#2. Dye or paint eggs together — then hold a contest for the best one!
“No matter how old you get, there’s something incredibly amusing about painting tiny eggs and making yours look the best,” writes Huffington Post’s Maham Abedi in a AccuChex blog post about Easter games for adults. Bonus: the eggs will make great office decor.
#3. Play “Secret Bunny” (an Easter version of Secret Santa).
As with Secret Santa, everyone draws the name of a coworker and anonymously treats the person with candy, coffee, homemade cookies or other goodies. Hand out Easter cards to employees so they can write a nice “Secret Bunny” message of gratitude to their person.
#4. Host an Easter Egg Hunt.
If the weather’s nice outdoors, hide eggs around your workplace property. Or make the hunt an opportunity for teams from different departments to get to know each other: hide eggs or other treats all around your company building and divide everyone into interdepartmental search teams. Fill plastic eggs with easy-to-conceal prizes, like game tickets or gift certificates, or have employees turn the eggs in for prizes.
#5. Help your local Humane Society handle “kitten season.”
Spring is “kitten season” and many humane societies are overwhelmed with the arrival of so many newborns. Sign up your team to volunteer for a few hours — it’ll brighten everyone’s mood and be a big help to an organization in need. The benefits of employee volunteerism are lasting — and that’s one reason volunteering together and creating a culture of giving back is a major trend in team motivation.
Another volunteer idea: hand out Easter baskets to families in need. Two-hundred employees at Palermo’s Pizza in Milwaukee took a day off work this week to pack and deliver about 1,500 Easter baskets.
#6. Set up an Easter treat table with notes of gratitude from leaders.
In a break room or other communal area, set up a display of candy, chocolates and other Easter goodies that employees can help themselves to and congregate around. Include a note (ideally handwritten) to employees from the CEO and other company leaders that wishes everyone a happy Easter and expresses heartfelt gratitude for their hard work.
#7. Share Easter Ham or Candy Gift Certificates with employees.
Give your employees the classic Easter gifts of a ham or candy with a gift certificate from gThankYou. All gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude come with free Easter and Spring Enclosure Cards which can be personalized with your message of thanks and company logo if desired. Gift Certificates are easily shared inside Easter eggs, in Easter baskets, or accompanied with Easter chocolates.
Wishing you and your company a gratitude-filled Easter!
Want more practical workplace tips for celebrating holidays (and everyday successes) that build a vibrant culture of employee appreciation all year-long?
Download gThankYou’s FREE Day-to-Day Celebration Calendar for tips on how to plan daily recognition and organize regular celebrations throughout the year. This one-of-a-kind eBook will help you to build an everyday culture of appreciation with month-by-month guides, case studies, research highlights, how-to recognition advice and celebration ideas for specific holidays and anytime.