Sunday, June 16th, we celebrate Father’s Day. Since 1910, we have honored our bonds with our fathers and their influence on society. With 96 percent of fathers working full time, we don’t always see or talk about the sacrifices they make to support their families. Father’s Day is the perfect opportunity to recognize and thank the hard-working dads and their impact in and out of the office.
Here are four great ways to celebrate the fathers in your workplace:
Picture perfect
A picture says a thousand words. Gift the working fathers in your office picture frames so they can display photos of their children at their desk. It’s a great personal gesture that allows them to celebrate fatherhood every day in the office.
Appreciation lunch
Host an office lunchtime celebration. Have the office fathers show pictures of their children and take turns telling about their children’s ages, activities, etc. Have them share their favorite pastime they like to do with their kid.
Afterward, post the father’s and children’s pictures on a bulletin board for all to see.
Bag it up
Use this as a team building opportunity and have the office create gift bags for the children of the dads in your workplace. Some great ideas of items to include are: coloring books, crayons, markers, bubbles, stickers, kites, beachballs, and tattoos. Also, consider including a fun Father’s Day-themed worksheet the kids can fill out and give their dad to tell him the little ways he matters.
Take it a step further. Have colleagues and managers write a handwritten note about how much you appreciate each dad’s hard work, and pass along the gift bag for their children to read.
Recess!
As suggested in our Mother’s Day post, it’s only fair to extend the same benefits to working dads as we do to working moms. To help them stretch their weekend celebrations a little longer, give your working dads extra ½ day off either the Friday before or the Monday after Father’s Day. This time off provides them extra time to spend with their family or pamper themselves. Similar to summer Fridays, it’s an inexpensive perk that has been shown to generate greater productivity, higher morale, and reduced turnover.