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7 Ideas to Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Work

Celebrations at work can be a great team-building opportunity, even for a holiday traditionally geared toward couples. Valentine’s Day is a wonderful time to show your employees appreciation in a purely platonic way. Consider these seven workplace Valentine’s Day ideas that let your team know exactly how much you value their contributions to the company.

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7 workplace Valentine’s Day ideas

1. Have an office party

It wouldn’t be a celebration without a party, so a top option is to host a Valentine’s Day-themed office party. This could be as simple as hosting breakfast for your staff. Choose easy breakfast options like:

  • Bagels with cream cheese, peanut butter and jams or jellies
  • Various pastries such as donuts, Danishes, cinnamon rolls, muffins and scones
  • Yogurts, yogurt parfaits and fruit platters for health-conscious employees
  • Other tasty breakfast foods

You could also opt to go with a catered sit-down meal and encourage employees to invite their significant others to join them. If you go this route, shoot for a lunch party, not a dinner affair, as some employees may have romantic dinner plans already in place.

Read More: Office Party Ideas: 8 Ideas for Your Company to Try

2. Organize a gift exchange

Just like holiday gift exchanges, you could do something similar for Valentine’s Day. Write each employee’s name on a slip of paper and place it in a bowl, box, bag or whatever is handy. Ask each employee to draw a name, so it’s a secret.

Don’t forget to limit the dollar amount of the gifts to keep the exchange budget-friendly. Also, decide whether employees will leave their gifts in a spot where their receivers will easily find them or put them in a central location to be handed out during a party.

Gift-givers should include the receiver’s name on the gift, but not theirs, to keep it a secret. Ensure your employees understand that gifts must be work-appropriate and nothing that would embarrass co-workers.

3. Give gifts to your staff

Giving gifts to your employees can be challenging, as it’s unlikely that you know exactly what each one likes or already owns. An easy, typically popular solution is gift cards.

These versatile gifts allow your staff members to choose something they actually want and like. They also take up little storage space and are easy to distribute. If you’d prefer to be a tad less generic, consider placing the gift cards in a personalized coffee mug or water bottle with a few Valentine’s chocolates.

When choosing gift cards, try to stick to major department stores or online retailers with lots of variety in their stock to help ensure there’s something for everyone.

4. Send personal notes

If you don’t send a gift, consider an employer-appropriate Valentine’s card with a heartfelt note thanking each employee for their dedication and continued efforts within their individual roles. Try to avoid giving out generic cards with just your signature, which could translate to a lack of genuine care.

Instead, try to write a personal note inside each card, pointing out something you appreciate about an individual employee. Be specific when possible, calling out a certain task completed or goal reached. Taking the time and effort to send this simple gesture of gratitude could have a lasting impact on your staff’s opinion of your leadership skills and morale.

5. Set up a kudos board

Workplace Valentine’s Day ideas that allow your employees to recognize each other can boost team spirit. Find a central location to place a large bulletin board a few days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Below this board, place a bucket of markers, push pins and red, pink and white hearts made from construction paper to tie it to the holiday.

Ask your employees to share how someone has made them feel appreciated at work or why they appreciate someone else. Encouraging your staff to give each other kudos is an excellent way to foster positive feelings and let everyone know how much impact they have on fellow employees and daily operations.

6. Schedule games

If you don’t have much time, consider games that require minimal preparation but involve a lot of engagement. Movie trivia can be a fun way to get employees involved and works for in-person and virtual offices. To encourage working together, divide into teams to answer questions and give out prizes to the winners.

For Valentine’s Day parties, you could stick to romantic comedies, but this genre might not be all-inclusive. To help ensure everyone enjoys the activity, use questions from all genres. Covering multiple genres may also help level the playing field, potentially making it more fun for everyone.

Another game idea is to fill a jar with those cute conversation hearts popular in elementary schools nationwide. Challenge your employees to guess how many candies the jar contains. This guessing game also works with pink and red M&Ms, heart-shaped jelly beans or other Valentine-themed candy. Whoever guesses the closest to the correct number wins a prize and a jar of candy to share with co-workers.

7. Decorate the office

No matter what other events you decide to take from this fun-filled workplace Valentine’s Day ideas list, consider decorating the office for the holiday. Embrace your inner St. Valentine by showering the workplace with pink and red hearts, streamers and balloons. Encourage employees to decorate their offices, workstations, lockers or other areas recognized as their space. Boost enthusiasm with a decorating contest that results in a few small prizes.

Related: 7 Fun Holiday Party Ideas Your Employees Will Love

At-work Valentine’s Day celebrations have benefits

Office celebrations can positively impact your employees. Being a good leader sometimes means finding time to do something special for your staff. Like other holidays, doing something fun for Valentine’s Day at work can result in various good returns. For example, office celebrations can help to:

  • Foster friendships: Many office Valentine’s Day ideas that include staff interaction could boost camaraderie between employees. Camaraderie often fosters workplace friendships that make coming to work more enjoyable. Having work friends can also enhance engagement and teamwork, leading to better communication and collaboration between your employees.

Related: Why Collaboration Is Important (And How to Increase It Among Employees)

  • Show appreciation: Everybody likes to feel appreciated for the work they do. When you make the extra effort to weigh Valentine’s Day ideas for the workplace and plan events accordingly, you clearly demonstrate your appreciation. Owners, managers, team leaders and other supervisors who routinely schedule events for their staff may benefit from increased loyalty from their team toward themselves and the company overall.
  • Boost morale and mood: Going together with feeling appreciated is improved morale through lifted spirits during this or other holidays your employees spend at the office. Spreading a little cheer with some simple games, treats and social time can go a long way toward putting your whole team in a good mood.
  • Create a caring work environment: Celebrating holidays like Valentine’s Day in an inclusive way creates a caring environment at work. When your employees feel a sense of belonging, you may experience increased employee retention and a more robust workplace culture.

Take care not to let the romantic nature of the holiday become too dominant in your workplace Valentine’s Day celebrations. Employees not currently in a relationship may feel excluded, so keep the overall focus on showing appreciation to your staff. The primary goal of office parties, no matter the holiday, is to recognize your employees’ hard work and ensure everyone feels valued.

Hosting regular events like office parties is a fantastic way to show your employees you care and encourage work friendships. Valentine’s Day is an often overlooked opportunity to accomplish these goals. Best of all, you can retool many of these Valentine’s Day ideas for workplace celebrations to make other holidays just as engaging for your employees.

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