How to Celebrate Valentine’s Day at Work

What is Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day is dedicated to celebrating love, typically in the form of romantic relationships. It can be a day when people give their romantic partner gestures of love such as flowers, candy, and other gifts. Valentine’s Day is now being celebrated to honor more than just romantic relationships. Friends, loved ones, and co-workers give Valentine’s Day gifts to one another to show love, appreciation, or friendship.

When is Valentine’s Day celebrated?

Valentine’s Day is annually celebrated and recognized on February 14^th.

What are some ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day at work?

Celebrating Valentine’s Day at work might not be something many businesses do but making the effort to recognize the holiday could be a fun way to give your employees a break and possibly improve productivity. Here are some festive ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day that might bring your employees some nostalgia and joy:

• Encourage employees to have a card making competition. Handmade Valentine’s Day cards and treats can help put everyone in good spirits and can bring back memories from school age years. The memories from younger years of dropping Valentines to everyone’s desks can be an inspiration for a healthy competition between co-workers.
• Have a Valentine’s Day party or potluck during lunch. Employees can get together to share a meal, tell stories of past Valentine’s Days, and mingle. After all, your employees spend a majority of their time together and a chance to socialize on company time can be nice for them. If your budget allows, get the meal catered to show how much the company appreciates their hard work. If that isn’t in your budget, make a sign-up sheet prior to the event for people to bring something in, but don’t require it.
• Put together some fun activities and games to play. Allowing employees to have fun and play games during the workday can be a great addition to the Valentine’s Day celebration. A BINGO game or trivia can be popular options along with small prizes for the winners. Valentine’s Day isn’t always about showing romantic love, so finding fun ways to show appreciation for hard work can be the company’s way of saying thank you.  
• Get employees a goodie bag. Just like in school, things like Valentine’s Day candy and treats were one of the best parts of the day. Be mindful of food allergies and sensitivities prior to getting everyone a treat. Things like plants, flowers or small gift cards can be great alternatives.

How to celebrate Valentine’s Day at work virtually?

It’s normal these days for businesses to have employees working in the office, remotely or hybrid. Make sure that if you are celebrating Valentine’s Day in the office that you do something for the employees who are working virtually as well. Here are some ways to celebrate the holiday virtually:

• Send an e-card to each remote employee with nice comments about their work efforts or positive personality traits.
• Make up a trivia game or a BINGO game to play virtually with employees who are working remotely. Make it a friendly competition and have a prize for the winner.  
• Send them all a small gift or some Valentine’s Day themed chocolates in the mail to show company appreciation.

How to celebrate Valentine’s Day with customers?

Just like employees, customers, patients and clients also like to be appreciated at the time of a holiday. Depending on the business or industry, you can show appreciation and kindness to everyone who walks into the building on Valentine’s Day. Have a big bowl of candy at the front desk with Valentine’s Day themed chocolates to bring joy to everyone who walks into the office. Welcoming customers inside with festive candy and chocolates for Valentine’s Day can be a great touch.

W.B. Mason has a great selection of Valentine’s Day themed chocolates, including:

• Hershey’s® Cupids Chocolate Assortment
• Hershey’s® Hugs & Kisses Valentine’s Day Assortment
• Reese’s® Peanut Butter Hearts & Miniature Assortment

How can celebrating a holiday like Valentine’s Day improve productivity at work?

Believe it or not, celebrating a holiday like Valentine’s Day at work can improve employee productivity as well as their overall happiness and motivation. Celebrations like Valentine’s Day can improve office morale and work relationships employees have with one another. After a celebration like Valentine’s Day, employees might feel as if they can accomplish more as a team and get more work done.

Socializing with co-workers during worktime can be positive for employees and for the company. Celebrations can directly impact the amount of work that gets done afterwards, and it can bring employees some joy before finishing the workday. Taking a little bit of time to focus on something other than work while rewarding employees with a little fun is a great way to give their brains a break.

Fostering relationships between employees on company time through the celebration of holidays can also impact the amount of motivation they have. It can feel refreshing to step away from the to-do list and strike up a conversation with co-workers and talk about things unrelated to work. Celebrating holidays like Valentine’s Day even if it’s for an hour during lunchtime can increase motivation to finish out the workday. The happiness they might feel can positively impact the drive they have to be productive.

What are some examples of what not to do on Valentine’s Day while at work?

While there are appropriate things to do for your employees on Valentine’s Day, there are things you should avoid as well. Here are some things to steer clear from when celebrating a holiday like Valentine’s Day:

• Don’t ask personal questions or use them as a topic of discussion. Some people might not want to share many details of their personal lives with people they work with. Avoid asking personal questions all together to give people the opportunity to keep some things private. It might save an awkward conversation from occurring.
• Don’t leave anyone out of the celebration. Invite everyone to the celebration even if it might not be their cup of tea. Make sure that everyone’s dietary restrictions and sensitivities are accounted for as well if you are having food or giving out Valentine’s Day candies.
• Avoid making it a matchmaking event. It can become awkward or intrusive if the Valentine’s Day celebration turns into a matchmaking event. Keep it simple with positive compliments and appreciation towards employees.

Valentine’s Day at the Office

Some employees like candy for Valentine’s Day, small gifts, or just a card telling how appreciated they are. Give your employees what you can this year in order to show them how valuable they are to the company. A small party or potluck at the office is a great way to show them appreciation while giving them a break from their work. A celebration might even increase the amount of work that gets done afterwards, which can positively benefit the company.

Celebrating a holiday like Valentine’s Day with games, candy, and conversation in the office can be a great way to rejuvenate employees during a busy time of year. Overall happiness, productivity and motivation can be impacted from celebrating holidays at work and can be a great way for employees to get to know their co-workers better.