Thanksgiving is an act of saying thanks and express gratitude to those people to whom we are thankful.
As autumn approaches and the year nearly comes to an end, we start to plan for the next year organizations goals.

It is that time of the year when we celebrate with our family, friends, relatives at home and even colleagues at our workplace.  At many work places, Thanksgiving Day is considered very important occasion and is celebrated with employees. Employees are showered with gifts by their employers to express the appreciation and gratitude for their efforts.  At some places, a corporate thanksgiving party is being thrown by all the employers and the employees together to celebrate this special occasion to express gratitude and thankfulness to each other.

Origin of Thanksgiving

Few of us know the origin of Thanksgiving.  In history, there was a time when people chose a day to celebrate the hard-earned reward of the harvest. The concept of Thanksgiving originated when Pilgrims wanted to express their gratefulness to the Wampanoag Native Americans who had helped them survive their first year in their new home. From then onwards, Thanksgiving was celebrated in America to celebrate the reward of hard work, teamwork and express thanks to each other.

Corporate or Workplace Ideas for Thanksgiving

Lunch Treat:

Saying thanks with a Thank you “lunch treat” is an unmatched idea. A lunch party outside the office is a break from their daily hectic office routine and a time to relax and breathe in fresh air. Also, it is an excellent occasion to mingle with your colleagues and employees to refresh the bond.

Alternatively, you can also organize potluck lunches for your employees. Most liked and popular food recipes are Grilled Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Pumpkin soup, Pumpkin-Walnut Layered Pie, Green beans with mushroom and bacon.

Gifts:

Gift them turkey along with a two-day holiday trip. Your employees will love it. Few employers also give them the bonus or an early exit from work to celebrate time with their family and friends. No matter whatever you gift them, or whatever perks you give them, but an employee will always remember the verbal act of recognition and appreciation for their efforts from their employers. Know what you can gift to your employee who is a camera lover!

You can also create a wall of fame for the employees, where you not only thank your employees with a note of appreciation but also with their photo collections.  Write about their past achievements or how well they have contributed to where the company is today. You can present your employee a photo collage and gift them a software to retrieve deleted photos so that the memories are never lost and are secured for their lifetime.

Read more about special offers and deals in case you are looking for something special for your employees.

Thanksgiving Gift Ideas for Employees.

 

1. Cookies/Donuts
2. Fresh fruits or Cake
3. Chocolates
4. Wine and Dine Accessories
5.  Bouquet or Accessories
6. Gift Cards for Domestic Purposes
7. Decorated Bottle of Wine
8. Gourmet Coffee
9. A Foot Massage for every employee
10. A bestseller book
11. Free Tickets for a movie or concert
12. Bunch of flowers with a sticky note
13.  A good Music DVD
14.  Employee of the Month award
15.  A trophy award
16. Herbal Tea Box
17. Appreciation frame

Activities:

Getting the employees to engage in some Thanksgiving activities also is a great idea. Engage your employee in some decoration activity, theme based best recipe contest, theme based best dress contest. Treat everyone equally irrespective of their designation and encourage them to participate in activities. You can also throw a grand dinner party. A silent dinner is in no way entertaining. Organize some games or some music and dance event so that employee can enjoy their time completely. Few organizations organize football matches or an outing to a nearby fruit orchard or pumpkin patch increase happiness and bonding.

Thanksgiving Activities at Work Place

Thanksgiving Jeopardy: Organize a Quiz or a Question/Answer round followed by a Prize to the winner

1. Dance Competition
2. Karaoke Challenge.
3. Thanksgiving Games( Cards, Puzzles, Candy Corn Hunt, Pass the Pumpkin)
4. Guess the Baby |( let everyone bring in their baby photo, then let everyone guess who’s who?)
5. Give your employee a pair of movie tickets
6. Organise an Ice Cream Party

Say it with a note in bulletin board:

Bulletin Board is also known as Gratitude Wall. This can be one of the best places where you express your thanks to people, and it works the best when you specify their names.  For Example “Thanks to Richard who provides us stationary stuff when needed.”

You can also say it with a thank you note or a greeting card. Take a group photo or a joined photo of your team and put on in the bulletin board.  You can make a photo collage of the past achievements of the team. I know an organization used to decorate the photographs funnily (with quotes and messages) and highlight it on the bulletin board to capture everyone’s interest.

Even personal handwritten short letters or verbally approaching by words of thanks is a great way of recreating the bond. The bulletin board is the great place where a list of thank you letters can be put for each specific employee. Even a special digital page of “Thank You” can be published on the internet where every employee can read, connect and share their comments. The above act can be a great tool for employee engagement and motivation.

Holiday Trip:

Organizing and planning a holiday trip or hiking with employees can also be a brilliant idea.

Thanksgiving is not only for a day. It’s an opportunity to communicate well, to come together, to be grateful for every favour no matter small or big, to work together as one, to overlook small petty issues and to above all to celebrate life!!!

So This Thanksgiving, do not forget any employee who has contributed to your organization. Say thanks from the bottom of your heart and also do not forget to Party hard!!

 

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