SERIES: Salute Your Best Employees!

Whether you’ve just welcomed a new hire or you’re celebrating a veteran team member’s 30th year, employees are the core of your business. And yet, even when we know this, it’s too easy to let recognition slide in the day-to-day bustle. This month, I’m sharing a few practical and easy-to-implement ideas for recognizing your team members. These don’t require big budgets or gestures. Often, it’s the small, consistent efforts that leave the biggest impression.

Celebrate!

Everyone likes to feel special, so celebrating work anniversaries and birthdays makes individuals feel recognized and valued. To streamline the process, log a new hire’s birthday (month and day only) and start date in a master calendar as part of your employee onboarding process and then add it to your email calendar. For individual celebrations, keep it simple and streamlined. Buy birthday and gift cards in bulk online or from your favourite local shop and keep them on hand. This eliminates the scramble of putting everything together at the last minute.

You can also celebrate as a group. You might hold a monthly employee appreciation event on the previous or first Friday of the month. At Gibson’s, we pair birthday and anniversary announcements with positive customer reviews and read them aloud while enjoying coffee and treats. It’s a lower-effort, high-impact morale boost that team members genuinely look forward to.

Offer Employee ‘Perks’

Many businesses in our industry offer perks like discounted cleaning or free garment care. First, figure out what you want to offer. Here are a few examples:

• $X credit in free cleaning
• staff discount up to a certain dollar value
• a free number of pieces cleaned for free per month
• Set it up in your point-of-sale system as an employee discount or monthly credit to make it easy for the counter person to handle, and you to track.

On the employee hire side, create a one-page sign-up sheet that includes the employee’s name, a description of the perk, rules or limits, and a place for their signature. The sign-up portion can be completed during onboarding, making it easy to enroll new hires. In the past, we’ve also allowed employees to try new services for free, as long as they provide feedback. It introduces them to new offerings firsthand and turns them into more informed brand ambassadors.

You got me singing

Most people love listening to music or having something play in the background. Designate certain days as ‘employee playlist days’ where you can ask each employee to contribute a few songs to a shared playlist that gets played throughout the day. If you want to be extra cheesy, you can call it ‘The Spin Cycle Soundtrack’. We’ve asked for music requests during our holiday season, and it’s always fun to hear what your team members like to listen to!

Most of us already use a music player like Spotify or Apple Music, which makes it easy to save playlists and add on music for another time. If this doesn’t integrate with your phone or intercom system, you can use a powerful Bluetooth speaker.

‘Fresh Press’ Wall

Another way to recognize and highlight team success is to feature wins on a bulletin board or whiteboard in a public area. This can be in your store or in an employee-only space, like a lunchroom or office. Call it the ‘Fresh Press Wall’, where you can post shout-outs, wins or thank-you notes. These can come from customers, managers or even peers. Update it weekly or monthly with kind words and small wins. It’s a visual reminder that everyone’s efforts are appreciated. This is also where you can post birthdays and anniversaries. Keep in mind that less can be more, and simply posting an inspirational quote occasionally can make an impact.

Surprise Late Start or Early Leave

Who doesn’t love a late start or early finish? Pick a day once a quarter and surprise one team member with an extra hour of either a late start or early leave – with pay, of course. It feels like a ‘snow day’ for adults, and can be a mechanism to surprise and delight team members. This can be tied to performance or to an employee for going above and beyond. This could also be something you add to your birthday or anniversary traditions. Whatever you decide, reward the individual in front of their peers for maximum fun and incentive.

Ring the Finisher’s Bell

Add a little ceremony to your big moments. Install a small bell or buzzer in your production area and encourage staff to ring it when an important job is completed, whether it’s a massive order or hitting a daily production goal. We ring a bell at Gibson’s when we want to bring the group in for a meeting for an important announcement or celebration. We know that we all need to come together when we hear the bell. It’s simple, celebratory, and brings a sense of shared pride to the team. While this doesn’t recognize an individual, it’s an added element of culture for your business.

A Final Word

None of these ideas are revolutionary, but that’s the point. The magic is in the consistency. When your team feels seen, supported and celebrated, they bring their best to work, and that ripple effect shows up in every part of your business.

So, pick one or two ideas that feel doable and make a plan. If possible, tap someone on your team to help execute. It doesn’t have to be perfect – it just has to be thoughtful and sincere.

Remember, the quality of your service is only as strong as the people behind it.

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