10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas

Employee appreciation gifts are a great way to highlight a team or an individual’s hard work and achievements. Promoting accomplishments not only improves employee morale, but it ensures that everyone feels respected and valued. A thoughtful reward program also helps retain and attract top talent. Although it may seem daunting, a meaningful recognition program doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming.

Join us as we explore unique employee appreciation gift ideas your whole team will love!


1. Office Awards

Give kudos to employees by presenting awards! Use trophies or framed certificates to recognize positive behaviors, like great customer service. Or sprinkle some humor into the mix with “most likely to” awards. Get as creative as you can!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: A group of employees holding a trophy
Workers celebrating their success with a trophy

2. Employee Of The Month

Let the whole team know who’s putting in extra effort by featuring them as the employee of the month! Display their framed photo in a designated spot where everyone can celebrate it (don’t miss these tips for getting an awesome professional headshot). If your organization has one, add them to the company newsletter, too!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: A group of smiling employees
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Showcase your employee of the month with a framed photo in the break room

3. Work Anniversaries

Reward employees who have been loyal to your team by recognizing their yearly work anniversaries with a framed DIY certificate or an engraved plaque. If possible, include a short thank you note acknowledging their time with the company. Employees will appreciate the extra touches that show you care!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: Framed employee anniversary artwork
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Celebrate work anniversaries with a framed certificate!

4. Professional Accomplishments

Celebrate important professional milestones with a certificate of completion that detail noteworthy achievements such as graduation or training program completion. Allow employees to hang their certificates or diplomas in their offices, or choose a dedicated communal space to hang them all together!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: Framed diploma
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Achievement certificates are great for recognizing accomplishments.

5. Inspirational Quotes

Give a shout-out to impressive employees with inspirational quotes. They’re a great way to boost creativity and productivity! Consider framing your quotes and adding a matboard that matches your company colors.

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: Framed quote next to a plant
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Quotes provide creative inspiration and make a great gift.

6. Team Photo

Take a company-wide photo of your team, have it framed, and gift it to new employees. It’ll help new employees feel more welcome and they’ll get to know coworkers a lot faster. Don’t forget that we can print, frame, and ship to locations across the country!

10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas - A group of employees posing for a photo.
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Help employees get to know one another with a framed group photo for new employees.

7. Peer-To-Peer Shout Outs

Get the whole team involved by having them recognize each other’s accomplishments. Create your own certificates or ribbons (or you can use colorful post-it notes too!) so employees can give accolades to their colleagues who have gone the extra mile. Choose a spot in the break room so employees can display their accolades for everyone to see!

10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas - An employee putting notes on a whiteboard.
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Use certificates, ribbons, or post-it notes for peer-to-peer shout-outs!

8. Employee Wall-Of-Fame

Create a gallery wall dedicated to showcasing your top employees by adding their framed photos to a wall of fame. Make sure to include details about why they were selected! If you’re feeling especially inspired, consider swapping out normal headshots for fun caricature drawings!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: Framed portraits
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – A gallery wall helps showcase your employee wall-of-fame.

9. Decorate The Break Room

Employees love relaxing in a nicely decorated break room! As a team reward, consider adding indoor plants, framed colorful art pieces, throw rugs, and comfortable seating to make your break room extra inviting. Looking for more ideas? Check out this nifty guide on designing a break room employees love!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: A woman enjoying her break room with coffee
One of the best employee appreciation gift ideas is to decorate and enhance your break room!

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10. Printed Newsletter

Print a bimonthly newsletter (let’s face it, we all get too many emails anyway). Have employees submit their own pictures or art for the cover. Fill it with company news, new employee bios, and shout-outs to awesome employees. Add each edition’s cover to a frame on a gallery wall. It’s a great way to showcase your employee’s creativity and chronicle your organization’s history. Plus, it visually dresses up an otherwise blank wall!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: Framed poster on blue wall
10 Creative Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas – Frame company newsletter covers to help dress up a blank wall.

Finding The Perfect Frame

We recommend you frame your employee appreciation projects because paper copies tend to get torn, stained, or damaged by UV light and sun exposure. When you frame your work, you’re preserving and protecting it to enjoy for years to come! And we have the perfect frames for your projects, with a variety of options ideal for any decor scheme.

First, take a look at our Hanover frame. It’s a versatile design that lends itself to more contemporary rooms with colorful finishes (vibrant red, green, and blue). Searching for something more traditional? You’ll love our Granby frame for its elegant styling and luxurious finish options.

If you’re looking to make a designer statement, don’t forget a matboard to compliment your art! For more modern designs or spaces, you’ll want a white or neutral matboard. For more traditional spaces, check out Honeydew, Fountain Blue, or Clapboard.

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: A variety of framed art prints
Pair your new frame with a colorful matboard to add a designer touch to your art!

Ordering Your Frame

Once you’ve found the best frame and matboard combo, head over to our interactive frame designer to upload your creations, select your cover (acrylic and non-glare acrylic options are available) and paper (choose either photo or art paper) options, and we’ll print, frame, and ship a ready-to-hang picture to your home or office. Don’t need us to print your art? Just enter your artwork size and we’ll send your custom frame directly to you!

Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas: Framed achievement certificate
Head over to our interactive frame designer to design and order the perfect frame!

Final Thoughts About Employee Appreciation Gift Ideas

Now that we’ve introduced you to our favorite employee appreciation ideas, it’s time to start thinking about which strategy works best for you! Each concept is relatively affordable and is sure to make a big impact on your team. Get imaginative with your strategies and refine them with employee feedback. We hope this has inspired your creativity, so don’t forget to share your framing projects with us on social media!

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Ready to get creative?

Whether you have a piece of art ready to frame, or you have something for us to print, we've got you covered. Our online custom picture framing perfectly fits not only your art, but your style and budget, too! Use our custom frame designer to create a frame, or browse our suggested frame designs. Happy designing!