While technology has made incredible advancements in recent years, it continues to be people who power organizations’ purpose, creativity, and innovative thinking every day. March 7 marks Employee Appreciation Day 2025, the perfect day to celebrate employees’ vital contributions and start building a new company culture of recognition.
Why employee recognition is more important than ever
When employees feel engaged at work, it elevates every aspect of business performance, including productivity, customer experience, employee retention, and profitability. However, a recent Gallup survey found that engagement among U.S. employees has dropped to a 10-year low, with less than one-third of employees feeling engaged at work.
One powerful solution is employee recognition, an essential ingredient for engagement. Employees who feel that their contributions are seen and valued are more likely to feel encouraged to continue bringing their A-game to work. According to a 2024 study by Gallup and Workhuman, employees who received meaningful recognition for their work were 45% less likely to have left their company after 2 years. Recognition can also supercharge employees’ motivation for learning. In fact, a recent Kahoot! Workplace Culture Report revealed that 90% of employees say they would feel more motivated to upskill if their efforts were better recognized.
How can business teams start celebrating employees’ achievements this Employee Appreciation Day? Read on for inspiration and easy-to-use tools that can help everyone on the team feel valued:
1) Let employees shine in the spotlight
Kick-off Employee Appreciation 2025 with activities that put employees front and center and invite the whole team to get involved and connect. With this ready-made awards template, you can boost team spirit and celebrate your teams’ unique talents! And with a selfie kahoot employees can get to know each other better with personalized trivia. This can enable employees to show off their other talents, interests, or accomplishments, and recognize each other as more than just their job roles. For more direct employee appreciation, team leaders can organize employee awards through a friendly competition on Kahoot!, with questions about the company, team members’ wins, or even the fun facts learned in the selfie kahoots. Award trophies or prizes for extra excitement, but most importantly, let employees’ achievements shine!
2) Value employees’ ideas and insights
Employee recognition is about more than just a shout-out for a job well done. After all, actions speak louder than words. Instead of simply telling employees you appreciate them, show it to them by valuing their opinions, asking for their input, and giving them opportunities to share ideas. A great way to get started here is with a Kahoot! brainstorm, which makes it easy and engaging for everyone to contribute. Participants can also vote for their favorite ideas, providing a seamless way to foster peer recognition. Additionally, team leaders can gather feedback from employees through a survey kahoot, using question types like poll, word cloud, NPS, and scale.
3) Make employee appreciation a year-round practice
Employee recognition is most effective when it’s consistent. That means weaving in moments to celebrate employees and make them feel valued throughout the year. To do this, leaders could host weekly or monthly kahoot sessions—or even a Kahoot! tournament—to let employees show off their knowledge and earn a spot on the podium. For example, read about how Coppel used Kahoot! tournaments to power recognition during training. Or, leaders could use kahoot sessions to highlight team achievements and give kudos to contributing employees. Teams can also create opportunities for employee participation and recognition throughout the everyday flow of work. Try our meeting template to easily design an interactive and engaging team meeting where everyone can get involved and have an impact.
On this Employee Appreciation Day, I also want to thank the Kahoot! team, our K!rew, around the world for their amazing contributions to making learning awesome—today and everyday.
Ready to kickstart employee recognition and engagement at your organization? Learn how Kahoot! 360 can help strengthen company culture by uplifting and connecting employees across your organization!
