How To Write Appreciation Letters To Employees (With Examples)

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Employees make up the heart and soul of a company. That’s why it’s important for organizations to ensure employee satisfaction across the board. An easy way to do this is to utilize appreciation letters for your employees. Articulating why you are appreciative of your employees can improve engagement, boost productivity, and decrease turnover.

We often think of sending written letters to employees as a bad thing. Although discipline is important, appreciation is equally if not sometimes more important. A thank you letter to your employee shows formal appreciation for an employee’s time, effort, and commitment to the company. Making your employees feel appreciated can go a long way.

Key Takeaways:

• Appreciation letters, or thank-you letters, are formal messages from the employer to employees that states their appreciation for the employee’s effort.

• Make sure to include their name in the letter, the reason for the recognition, and specific examples to give credibility to their efforts.

• Sending an employee appreciation letter boosts employee morale and increases their job satisfaction.

How to Write an Appreciation Letter

Writing an employee appreciation letter doesn’t have to be complicated. You’ll want to gather a few pieces of information before you begin writing.

• Their name. In order for the employee appreciation letter to be effective, it’s important to personalize the letter.

• The reason for recognition. Whatever your reason for recognition, be sure to include it in the personalized letter. This can be anything from closing a client account to just being thankful for their hard work and attention to detail.

• Other colleagues who have noticed their efforts. Before writing the letter, it’s always a good idea to speak with team members or managers of the employee you’re looking to recognize. They can give you additional anecdotes to include in your letter.

• Statistics or specific examples. To show you are really appreciative, consider including any statistics or specific examples that give credibility to the employee’s efforts.

By collecting these things, your appreciation letter to your employee is sure to shine. Including details, anecdotes, and personalization, helps let your employee know that you understand the details of their project and appreciate their contributions toward it.

Example Employee Appreciation Letters

There are a variety of different reasons for writing an appreciation letter to your employees. Here are a few examples of different appreciation letters.

1. Performance Achievement Appreciation Letter

   Whether your employee has hit a certain sales target, or marketing goal, or finished a project on time, your employees will feel recognized with an appreciation letter.

   Dear (employee name),

   I wanted to let you know how thankful and proud we are that you’ve closed the (client) account. Your hard work and effort are extremely appreciated. I know you’ve been staying late and coming in early to make sure this account was closed by the end of the quarter.

   Closing this deal shows your team how important it is to pay attention to details, stay persistent and optimistic, and work closely with your team. I hope you are proud of your achievement, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do next.

   Congratulations,
   (Your name)

2. Collaboration Appreciation Letter

   Collaborating between teams can be a difficult task, especially if an employee has existing responsibilities on their plate. Recognizing their willingness to collaborate cross-functionally is a great way to ensure collaboration stays at the forefront of their minds.

   Dear (employee name),

   I wanted to thank you for your collaboration with (individual or team name). The (project) depends on deep collaboration between our two teams, and I wanted you to know that your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.

   You’ve shown both teams what it means to be a great communicator and what it means to be part of a broader team. Because of this, (the project) was finished by our intended deadline.

   Thank you,
   (Your name)

3. Innovation Appreciation Letter

   Innovation is incredibly important in many industries, especially those that depend on it, like tech or healthcare. Being able to innovate quickly is important to stay competitive, as well as maintain brand awareness in your market. Showing appreciation to your employees for innovation ensures they’ll continue to be creative during their employment.

   Dear (employee name),

   Thank you so much for your incredibly innovative thinking. Your creative ideas always stand out and help drive our team and our company forward.

   I cannot express deeply enough how much of an asset you are to our team and company. By bringing your creativity to the table during every meeting, you are always improving how we approach things. Personally, I feel inspired by your imagination and can’t wait to see what else you come up with in the future.

   Keep up the amazing work,
   (Your name)

What Is an employee appreciation letter?

An employee appreciation letter sometimes referred to as a thank you letter to employees, is a formal message from the employer to the employee that states their appreciation for the employee’s effort, whether it be to the company, a specific project, or a team. This letter typically has a personalized message that states this contribution.

The letter can include a variety of different things, depending on the situation. Usually, these are handwritten or printed, but in today’s digital age, many times, they can take a digital format as well. It’s suggested, however, to try and deliver a hard copy of this letter to your employee, as it shows you’ve gone out of your way to recognize them.

Handwritten letters are the best way to go about delivering something like this, as they incorporate a more personalized nature. This is certainly practical if you are handing out appreciation letters to only a few employees. However, if your letter must reach a wider group of people, a printer version will work just fine.

Why Are Appreciation Letters Important?

It’s becoming increasingly important to recognize your employee’s hard work, devotion, loyalty, and successes. Many times at work, we focus on the negative, delivering notices about performance and criticisms of work. However, taking the time to do this with appreciation can go a long way with your teams.

Employee appreciation has a direct effect on employee morale, motivation, well-being, satisfaction, and overall engagement with their team and the company. All of this directly contributes to business success — in fact, employee appreciation can have a significant impact on improving company culture, achieving HR KPIs, and optimizing retention.

Employee Appreciation Letter FAQ

1. What do you write in an employee appreciation letter?

   In an employee appreciation letter, you should start with a simple thank you. This can be anything from “Thanks for doing what you do,” “The work you do is important and appreciated,” or something like, “I wanted to express our deep gratitude for the dedicated work you put out every day.”

2. What do you say to employees for employee appreciation?

   To show employee appreciation, you should express your heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to your employees. For a deeper impact, consider adding specific details about what the employee did or how they performed to receive such recognition. It’s important to be genuine and speak from the heart so that the employee knows they are appreciated.

3. How do you write a good appreciation letter?

   To write a good appreciation letter, start with a greeting, share your gratitude with specific examples, include any details from conversations or from peers, and end with a polite closing. Make sure you write your letter and have it delivered no later than three days after the event. Bring prompt can make a good impression and make the recipient feel better. If you are unable to send it in a three day time frame, make sure you send it as soon as you can.

References

1. PostGrid – Thank You / Appreciation Letter to Employees

2. SHRM – Letter of Appreciation

Author

Caitlin Mazur

Caitlin Mazur is a freelance writer at Zippia where she has written 140+ articles that have reached over 1 mil viewers as of June 2023. Caitlin is passionate about helping Zippia’s readers land the jobs of their dreams by offering content that discusses job-seeking advice based on experience and extensive research.