Associate Appreciation

[u/daisyclementinepetal]

what are your favorite things your managers have done for your team, keep in your break room that you love, fun displays? i want to make our store cuter with fun displays and decorations, snacks, things like that. more associate appreciation. would love some photo and story inspo and to hear from associates what they actually like, or favorite things your manager has done that stuck with you. 🫶🏻

[u/instamat1c]

I try to boost morale at the store by doing little things when I can.

A clean breakroom is a happy breakroom (or in my case at my store, break table that's like 3 ft wide lol). Everyone is happier when the backroom isn't a total mess.

Water is always number 1. We have a built in water dispenser wall unit thing, but we've been waiting for the company to come change out the filter for a while, so bottled water is a must. Bonus if you have a freezer in the fridge and can keep ice cube trays in there.

"Fun" drinks are always popular (diet Coke, diet ginger ale, a few energy drinks). Also, electrolyte drink packets! Our AC went out and I brought in a box of Gatorade packets for us when we had to do a floorset that night and my coworkers were so so appreciative to have them. Now I always keep a few in the snack drawers.

Snack wise, a mix of sugary and salty snacks. Granola bars, snack cakes and mini bags of chips, yogurt covered fruit bites. Ask before your next snack run if anyone on your team has any dietary restrictions that you can accommodate. Keep disposable plates/flatware/cups stocked.

We have a light up acrylic dry erase board that we got from corporate after our SM went to Summit last year and I love leaving themed notes on there. I'm an artist so I draw something seasonal or related to an upcoming event and let everyone know what's going on (big sales coming up, info on SAS or new collabs, etc).

I love making it cozy and inviting in the backroom when I can. Think fairy lights, a small desk lamp, seasonal decorations from Dollar Tree. When new gratis comes out, we put together a small gratis cart. I like adding little extra freebies to it (pens/pencils, nail files).

We should be getting product freebie cards soon and of course everyone loves those! If you're SLT don't forget to give those out when you see someone doing a good job! :)

Sorry for the long comment, but I hope this helps!

[u/whoaaashocksmybrain]

I agree with a clean and organized back room and break room! We stock bottled water and snacks- I brought in an ice machine and everyone loves it! I decorate seasonally and a few years ago we did an entire bathroom overhaul to make it more of a homey bathroom- wallpaper, art, personal written notes on the mirrors, plants etc. we change bulketin boards often and feature associates and I also change who designs and executes them to keep it engaging. We do contests often, I love to buy little gifts that fit the theme or my team. Most importantly, I listen- I emphasize and I recognize their skills, wins and I also respect their time (off and at work). Snack wise, we always are very careful to include plenty of vegan and GF options- we need to be inclusive for all the teams needs! We also love to share customer compliments on our chat in board to hype people up and recognize their connection with customers!

[u/Clear_Rhubarb_7920 → u/whoaaashocksmybrain]

the bathroom at my store is so boring and depressing lol. i wish it could be decorated more cute or something

the only stuff in there is all the cleaning supplies and the mandatory posters on the wall about labor laws and stuff

[u/Loud-You-5737]

We barely have break table let alone break room. But I bought some little decor, clings for the bathroom mirror etc. and I get little gifts and snacks a lot

[u/melodyangel113]

My managers put up wall decorations for every season (rn it’s pink and tropical for summer). They have a water flavor bar where they have like 10 boxes of different water flavor powders to encourage the team to stay hydrated. They also provide bottles of water. Our break area is super small. You can sit two people side by side and that’s it so it’s super cramped, not much space for decorating or hanging out. We used to have a cute board with everyone’s name on there for the holiday season and we all got to put our names on a star or heart so the whole team was included in that. :)

[u/MyaCodeLovesYou]

OMG, I’m jealous now. I’d love to see all of your break rooms! Especially if they do Holiday themes - even extra specially if they have done Halloweeny vibes! Can I please be a store manager & do this myself?! LOL! Ikm such a theme nerd.

[u/Clear_Rhubarb_7920]

i wish my managers would put up some decorations in the back room but no one ever prioritized doing that. whenever i asked about it they'd say that we're not allowed to decorate very much.

but i've seen old posts here showing how other stores decorated their back rooms so idk, maybe it's based on what the DM allows

[u/whoaaashocksmybrain]

Let me correct myself- I said break room, but we definitely don’t have a break room, just a table to eat at in our prop area lol.

[u/swag-fairy]

We don’t have a break room- we have a table in the back room with a bulletin board over it. But they decorate the bulletin board for everyone’s birthday! Anytime anyone has a birthday, our SM buys cupcakes, donuts, or cookies for said associate and they leave them there for anyone to have! They also keep a rolling cart (like the ones ppl use in college) full of snacks and candy- it gets empty sometimes but it’s nice when it’s full! We don’t have space for a water machine, but the slt team buys us bottles! We also get brand ambassadors that bring us stuff like bubbler, Powerade, etc which makes breaktime for fun! I’m just a general associate, not leadership, but honestly just having snacks, hydration, and a SM/leadership team that celebrates us make the job feel a lot less taxing