Showing thanks is a simple but important way to engage your team at work.
By expressing your gratitude and appreciation, you’ll be creating a more productive work environment and a happier office.
However, just the words “Thank you” in an email might not be enough. If you want to create the best office culture possible, you should consider meaningful ways you can thank your team for their hard work.
Forbes reports that thanked employees are twice as likely to be engaged at work and three times more likely to think their work has meaning and purpose. On top of that, workers who are regularly thanked are half as likely to be actively searching for a new job. That means it’s not just proper manners to say thank you—it’s proper business practice!
Check out these 15 ways to say thank you to a team that show your gratitude and appreciation in 2024.
Why is it Important to Say Thank You to a Team?
Thanking your team is important for the morale of your employees, your overall office culture, and the success of your business. Employees who feel appreciated for the hard work and outstanding performance they contribute to the office are more likely to stay with the company.
Appreciating your employees will also create a healthier and more communicative office culture, which will lead to a more efficient, profitable company—all because you took the time to thank your team!
Plus, an office built on kindness, appreciation, and decency will always get farther than a toxic workplace centered around self-interest and squeezing all the use out of its employees.
How To Thank Your Team For Their Hard Work (Team Thank You Ideas)
If you need inspiration, here are 15 great ways you can thank your team for their hard work!
1) Gift them a thank you care package
Whether you just finished a tough assignment, you’re celebrating a work anniversary, or you just want to motivate your employees, a care package is a fantastic way to say a big thank you to your team.
Whether the care package is waiting on their desk at the start of the day or is shipped to their front door (which is perfect for remote teams), a care package full of thoughtful treats will show your employee that their excellent performance is valued. The care package can contain tasty treats, useful tech, or even company swag!
Why we love this team thank you idea: A care package boosts morale and gives your employee a useful (or yummy) gift.
How to implement this: Use a corporate gifting service to remove any stress or hassle from sending an employee thank you care package.
2) Send a personalized eCard
When a handwritten note from the team is difficult, a group ecard can be a small but impactful way to say “thank you” to a special coworker at your organization. Simply sign up for FREE, create your eCard, and send out to your team to customize it with memorable photos, personal messages, and anything else you want to include in your FREE ecard.
Why we love this team thank you idea: It is perfect for distributed or hybrid teams that want to say “thank you” but are looking for something new to send out to a colleague.
How to implement this: Try out a free eCard at Caroo to see if it works for your team. You can also add a gift card or premium corporate gift if you are looking to really thank them!
3) Get your team enrolled in a peer-to-peer recognition program
Courtesy of Motivosity
While you can say thank you until your cheeks turn red and your breath gets ragged, sometimes the most powerful thanks is not the one that comes from the top-down—it’s the recognition sent from a coworker. Boost office morale and create a culture built around positive feedback by enrolling your entire team in a peer-to-peer recognition program.
This will create an office social media where team members can write notes of appreciation, shout out hard work, and send thank you gifts that other team members can spend on special rewards.
Why we love this team thank you idea: Creating an easy-to-use and friendly space for the whole team to give thanks and receive praise will generate a culture of care and create a happy workplace.
How to implement this: Try using Motivosity to make it easy to get your peer-to-peer recognition program off the ground.
Bonus! These are some of our favorite employee reward platforms for saying “thank you” to your team:
| Bonusly | 🥇 Recognize and reward employees for their achievements and milestones | Visit Bonusly |
| Stadium | 🎁 Award them an eGift | Visit Stadium |
| Motivosity | 🌟 Engage and retain employees with recognition, rewards, surveys, and more | Visit Motivosity |
| Hoppier | 🌮 Send lunch or treats to your entire team in minutes | Visit Hoppier |
| Nectar | 😃 Peer-to-peer recognition, Amazon integration, boost your engagement and retention | Visit Nectar |
| 👉 Compare more HR-vetted and approved options here | ||
4) Take them on a team field trip
An employee engagement idea that works as a great thank you is to get your whole team out of the office and on a special field trip. This may seem counterintuitive—how can leaving the office make the team more productive? However, taking the time to have fun at work during an employee appreciation day will pay dividends in the long run. Bring the whole team to a nice restaurant, or a state park, or maybe just to the local bowling alley! What matters is everyone is together and bonding in a non-work environment.
Why we love this team thank you idea: By allowing your team to decompress and spend time together on a team field trip, you’ll show you appreciate them while creating a more tightly-knit team.
How to implement this: Choose the field trip that will best fit your team. Don’t be afraid to be unique—something memorable like a monster truck rally or ax-throwing event might be what sets this “thank you” field trip apart.
5) Send them digital gift cards
Give thanks for your employee’s great work with a special reward—a digital gift card! Whether you want to send them a specific gift card for a store or restaurant you know they love, or you want to let them choose their gift card using an online gifting service, your employees will feel appreciated and have the chance to buy themselves an employee appreciation gift.
Digital gift cards go straight to your team member’s inbox and are immediately ready for use!
Why we love this team thank you idea: By giving your employees the choice of what they want to buy, this thank you gift will give them the power to get the perfect thing that will make them happy.
How to implement this: You can an online gifting service to send a digital gift card without any trouble or wasted time. No time wasted driving to the market to hunt down gift cards!
6) Create employee awards
And this year’s big winner is… your office culture! One awesome, involved way to say thank you is by creating employee awards. You can either create a select amount of awards to incentivize hard work and call out your most driven employees, or focus on fun and create a silly, charming award for every team member.
For even more fun, host a live award ceremony in the office or at a local restaurant—just make sure you start the award ceremony with an employee appreciation speech to contextualize why you’re there and what you’re thankful for.
Why we love this team thank you idea: Individualized awards are an entertaining, personalized thank you that your employee can take home as a memento.
How to implement this: To expand upon the award ceremony, use an employee engagement tool to attach online reward points to your company awards!
7) Check something off their bucket list
If you’re looking for a great thank you for an individual employee, there are few thank you gifts better than helping your team member check something off their bucket list. Have they long dreamed of watching their favorite sports team play live? Buy them two tickets. Have they always wanted to see the Grand Canyon? Send them on a trip. Whatever their bucket list item is, helping them achieve it will gift them a memory they will never forget.
Why we love this team thank you idea: A personalized trip based on a bucket list item is an extremely meaningful and motivating thank you for any team member. These bucket list items do not have to break the bank! You can gift them a new experience that stays local and provides employees a chance to try something new.
How to implement this: Talk to your employee to find their perfect gift—whether that’s a movie premiere, an NFL game, a boat ride, or something else!
8) Ask them how they like to be rewarded
The employee care experts at Caroo have created a FREE workplace personality assessment that allows managers to learn more about their team members. Not only will managers gather insight into their distributed team, but they will also learn what types of employee recognition matter to their employees.
Why we love this team thank you idea: It sets team leaders up for success since they will know what types of rewards their employees care about. You and your team can say “thank you” in a way that will make an impact in the workplace and not fall on deaf ears.
How to implement this thank you idea: Take the assessment to learn more and then plan to send it out to your entire team to set you up for future success and make sure your thank-yous make a difference.
9) Send them an Amazon wishlist gift
While it can be an enjoyable challenge to wrack your brain trying to come up with the perfect gift for your employees, there’s nothing wrong with stacking the deck in your favor—if you want to ensure you’re picking a gift your employee will appreciate, why not choose a present from their Amazon wishlist?
Many Amazon customers use their Amazon wishlist to bookmark things they want, allowing you to find an ideal present without having to ask your employee and spoil the surprise.
Why we love this team thank you idea: A thank you gift they’re practically guaranteed to like, an Amazon wishlist gift will be appreciated and used by any member of your team.
How to implement this: Check their wishlist, or let them award themself with an employee reward system like Awardco.
10) Gift them unique company swag
Show your thanks and show off your company logo all at once by giving unique company swag as an employee appreciation gift. Put your logo on a shirt, smack your company name on a hat, or place your slogan on a piece of tech—whatever you choose, company swag is a thank you gift that’ll help your employee feel pride in the company. Plus, with company swag, your team will be able to promote the brand wherever they go!
Why we love this team thank you idea: A nice gift that allows them to show off their company pride is a perfect thank you.
How to implement this thank you idea: Create custom swag with an online retailer or designer and pass it out to your employees as a tangible gift to say “thank you” to your team.
11) Let them make a charitable donation
A smart way to say thank you is by focusing on your employee’s wellbeing. One way to promote mental wellbeing while rewarding hard work is by giving your team members money to make a charitable donation to a cause they care about! Whether they want to help save the rainforest, fight injustice, or any other worthy cause, a charitable donation allows you to give them a real gift while allowing both you and the company to do a little extra good in the world.
Why we love this team thank you idea: Instead of gifting them an item they might not want, give them a sense of accomplishment and goodness with a charitable donation of their choice.
How to implement this: You can work with a local charity or nonprofit to organize donations or collect money to donate to your community. A great way to say “thank you,” making a donation in their name can both recognize your colleague for their place on the team and positively support your community.
12) A thank you raffle
If your whole team is deserving of a thank you after a recent “win”, why not give one lucky employee a chance for a big prize with a thank you raffle?! Each team member will be entered to win something truly exciting, be it a new computer, a vehicle, or an expenses-paid trip. Everyone will be put in the raffle, with one grand winner! Or, to incentivize your team, employees can get extra chances to win for good work or going the extra mile.
Why we love this team thank you idea: By giving them a chance to win a spectacular prize, your team will have something to get excited about. Plus, having an office-wide competition could be great for team building.
How to implement this thank you idea: Check your budget and see what kind of grand prizes you can offer.
Pro-Tip: One way you can upgrade your raffle is to award a custom gift for the big winner. A pair of branded Airpods is an example of a gift that requires time to plan and order, but can be an excellent way to thank one or two employees for their contribution.
13) Take the entire team out to lunch
Team lunches are a great way to say thanks to your team. But there’s more to it than just free food and drinks. Coworkers will enjoy the opportunity to get out of the office and interact with team members outside of work. An option worth considering is doing lunch outdoors if the weather’s just right. For even more fun, add party games!
Why we love this team thank you idea: You can never go wrong with free food!
How to implement this: Take a poll on the best budget-friendly food joints to get everyone’s buy-in!
14) Say “thank you” in person
With technology, we have more ways than ever to thank a colleague. Think cell messaging, emails, chats, and online forums. While they’re easier and certainly more convenient, receiving a thank you in person can be especially gratifying for your employee.
Why we love this team thank you idea: An in-person thank you has a timeless appeal. You can always leave them a thank you note or letter, but employees will appreciate this thoughtful gesture so much more!
How to implement this: Easy Peesy! Walk up to your employee (when they’re not otherwise engaged with a customer or on the phone), look them in the eye, smile, and say thank you!
15) Send an “Employee Spotlight” email
Put your corporate email to good use by sending out a company-wide “Employee Spotlight” email.
Highlight an employee who has performed exceptionally well and who you think deserves recognition. Aside from sharing a picture, share their wins and any specific stories that highlight their achievements.
Why we love this team thank you idea: There’s one-on-one or team recognition, and then there’s company-wide recognition, which is being known on a much larger scale!
How to implement this: Share stories. Talk about how Johnny stayed late on Tuesday to help with an important project or how Karen beat her sales goal for the 5th month in a row!
Team Thank You Messages to Team + Phrases You Can Use
If you’re having trouble getting inspired, here are some sample appreciation messages you can use or be inspired by for your team.
1 “Thank you all for your hard work with this last project. The extra time you all put in to make this happen did not go unnoticed. I consider myself lucky that you are the team I’ve been given. Thank you!”
2 “Now that we’re at the end of the year, I wanted to take this chance to thank you all for your stellar work ethic, your positive attitudes, and the care you bring to this office. I’m excited for another year of success and growth with you all.”
3 “Thank you for your daily hard work and the dedication you bring to each and every project. You are a role model for the rest of the office.”
4 “At the end of your first month at our company, I wanted to personally thank you for the hard work and unique perspective you’ve already brought to the table. You are a stellar addition to an already great team, and I can’t wait to see what else you’ll bring to this office.”
5 “Both congratulations and a thank you are in order on your one-year anniversary at the company. You’ve helped this team and office grow and I hope we can work together for years to come.”
Thank You to The Team Quotes
Check out these thank you to the team quotes you can use or be inspired by for public messaging!
➤ “A thank you to my team for the stellar work they brought to our latest project. I am blessed to work with such a smart, driven group of people.”
➤ “Congratulations on one year at the company! Thank you for all the work and dedication you’ve brought to our office—we’re a better company for having you be part of it.”
➤ “Big shout out to my team! We just completed a huge assignment, and we couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help and hard work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
➤ “Wanted to publicly thank my whole team as I reach my work anniversary—they make going to the office a daily pleasure and always bring the best out of me.”
➤ “Thank you for your hard work. I hope you know how much we cherish your dedication to the company and can-do attitude.”
People Also Ask These Questions About Thanking Your Team
Q: What are the benefits of thanking employees for hard work in 2024?
- A: The benefits of thanking employees for hard work in 2024 are numerous. Giving thanks will create an office more dedicated to appreciation, which creates a happier and healthier workplace. This increases productivity, decreases turnover, and helps your business grow.
Q: How can I thank employees for promoting teamwork?
- A: You can thank employees for promoting teamwork by rewarding them using an employee recognition software platform, sending them on a special trip, or giving them an award at a team award ceremony.
Q: What should I include in a thank you to a team letter?
- A: In a thank you letter to your team, make sure to include specific reasons for why you are thankful. The more details and real-life examples you include, the more personalized and meaningful the letter will be.
Q: What are some tips for writing an appreciation letter to a team?
- A: The first tip for writing an appreciation letter to your team is to write from the heart! Be honest and tell them how much their hard work means—just be sure to include specific examples and personalized information. Also, make sure to edit your work! A typo can take away from the meaningful content of your thank you note.
