When working at home, employees can often feel disconnected from the company they work for. After all, when you are not surrounded by the office environment every day, it can feel isolating. One issue that can come up as a result is employees feeling under-appreciated for the work they do, especially as many people are going above and beyond at this time. To make sure your employees feel valued, try out a few of these forms of recognition.

Buy Them Lunch

Many restaurants are still operating on a takeout basis right now, which makes buying lunch the perfect way to recognize a team that is doing a great job. This may be a bit logistically difficult, as it would require placing several orders to accommodate everyone on the team. However, doing so can be a fun team event, where you all eat together over video conferencing and have a bit of social time together.

Give A Shoutout

Emails are a major staple of communication with remote work, which means they are a great avenue for shouting out members of the team that are stepping up. Don’t overdo shoutouts, though, as they lose meaning if they happen too often. However, highlighting a success story from the week is an easy and effective way to give some much-deserved recognition.

Purchase Gift Cards

In these tough times, many people are struggling financially, as are their loved ones. To help lessen the burden, try purchasing gift cards for people who do exceptionally well. They don’t need to be big — a simple $10 card will mean a lot to anyone. Try buying cards that can be used for many things, such as Amazon or a VISA gift card.

Provide Flexibility

When possible, provide some flexible scheduling to employees who consistently perform well. This flexibility can come in one of two ways: either the ability to shift working hours, or some extra time off. Either way, if you put the expectation in place that work will not drop off, your employees should be able to maintain their workload while also enjoying this new perk.

Giving employees some recognition can go a long way in improving productivity, showing compassion, and instilling confidence in your employees. Make sure to prioritize recognition in these tough times, as it will mean so much more to your team.