Employee Recognition Ideas

Recognizing a job well done can increase employee retention and morale. The Pretrial, Probation and Parole Supervision Week is a perfect time to recognize staff. APPA wants to share a few ideas for recognizing and celebrating the challenging work done daily by community corrections professionals. Most of these ideas are free or low-cost and, more importantly, easy to implement – so consider the following suggestions that can be easily adapted to fit individual agency needs.

For Teams

• Catered Meal: Host a staff breakfast or luncheon and recognize outstanding service, dedication, and/or career milestones such as promotions and years of service. Fun meal ideas: ice-cream bar, pizza party, salad bar, BBQ/grill out, food truck festival.
• Special Attire Day: Alter the dress code by letting your team dress up or down during PPPS Week. (Examples: Superhero costumes, sports team jerseys, sports team colors, casual attire – jeans).
• Social Media Praise: Create a social media campaign to show appreciation to staff who epitomize outstanding service and dedication - use hashtag #PPPSWeek.
• Fun and Wellness Day: Play games as a team, such as, cornhole, giant Janga, giant Connect-Four, and board games. Bring self-care activities to the office - chair yoga, dance parties, mindfulness sessions, fitness classes; or participate as a team in a community wellness event (i.e., carry torch for Special Olympics, 5K walk/run).
• Give Back as a Team: Gather a group from your office to spend a couple of hours volunteering (i.e., blood drive, serving food at a homeless shelter, helping at local women's shelter, etc.). Organize staff to sponsor a local charity and collect the charity’s wish list throughout the year and make donations during PPPS Week.
• Educational Outreach: Partner with a nearby college or university and ask instructors to bring a group of students interested in community corrections into the office to experience what really happens on a daily basis. APPA gets numerous requests from students interested in community corrections who want to know what the work is really like. Ideas to support this concept include having students intern for a day, observe court, shadow an officer for a day, speak at career fairs, etc.
• Participate in #PPPSWeekChallenge!

For Individuals

• Surprise Treats: Provide small gifts to surprise and delight staff (i.e., snacks, candy, cupcakes, business card holders, gift cards, APPA t-shirts).
• Professional Gift: Hold a drawing for a paid individual membership or a training registration to a professional association such as APPA.
• Award of Excellence: Recognize individuals who have shown excellence in terms of work ethic, teamwork, accountability, and/or professionalism.
• Handwritten Note: Write a heartfelt note of gratitude to your colleague(s).
• Royalty for the Day: Choose an outstanding team member (employee of the month, longest service, etc.) and treat him/her like royalty for the day. Suggestions: provide a crown and sash, give gift basket, offer free breakfast or lunch, allow fun attire.
• Honor others. Honor deceased and/or injured officers by observing a moment of silence and filling out our “Share A Hero” form.