The Tribune

With Father’s Day just around the corner, employers may be wondering how to appreciate and keep men engaged. When your employee shows up to work, you expect them to leave everything at the door, focus on work and make the most of their time on-the-clock. What you probably do not often see or discuss is the sacrifices they make by being a working father. Fatherhood done correctly is becoming increasingly more challenging.

Father’s Day is the perfect opportunity to recognise and thank hard-working fathers for putting in an honest day’s effort regardless of circumstances, sleep-deprived and all. Here are a few examples of how you can do this:

1. Give a gift. We are way past a “No.1” dad coffee mug or a goofy tie. Give a good, well thought-out gift. Even if you do not know your dads personally enough to know what they are interested in, there are items out there that still say: “I appreciate you”.

2. Treat the office to lunch. Have employees invite their dads, grandparents or any father figure in their life. Consider catering in your office so that everyone can participate or head to your local brewery for a burger and beer over lunch.

3. Have a company outing. Attend a sporting event or create a fun day of team-building games. There are a lot of activities you can do even during the work day. Having the outing during work hours ensures that your employees are likely to attend and builds camaraderie within your team. You may come home exhausted from an intense volleyball and domino tournament, but your employees will have memories and new friendships.

4. An activity they can do with their children. Parents love to do the things that bring a smile to their children’s faces. So whether that is going to the Ardastra Garden Zoo to see the flamingos, or to a new movie about their favorite super hero, treat your dads to these activities with their children. That might be as easy as movie tickets, a zoo pass, or tickets to a local sporting event. Let the fathers know you are thinking about them and their children.

5. Time off. This may be the simplest thing you can do for your fathers in the office. Give them time off to be with their families or to do whatever they want since it is their day. You could even surprise your fathers by giving them the Monday off after Father’s Day, or plan ahead and tell them to take Friday afternoon off. You want to make sure they actually take the time, so letting them know in advance would guarantee they do not schedule meetings on those days.

6. Give out picture frames. Pass out nice gift frames to the fathers in your office so they can display photos of their children. It is a great personal gesture that allows them to celebrate fatherhood 365 days a year. Try googling “Father’s Day photo frame” or “photo gift” for some classic and elegant ideas.

7. Create gift bags for the children of the fathers in your workplace. Some great ideas include colouring books, crayons, markers, activity books, bubbles, stickers and tattoos. Write a handwritten note about how much you appreciate each father’s hard work, and pass along the gift bag for their children.

Making the effort to recognise and celebrate Father’s Day is just one way to develop a positive staff culture that will ensure your employees feel happy, respected and acknowledged.

No matter the budget, there is something here for every office to incorporate this Father’s Day. A happy and valued staff member is a more productive one, so take time to recognise the fathers in your office. They deserve it.

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com.