7 ways to celebrate Healthcare HR Week 2025

Recognizing healthcare HR professionals during Healthcare HR Week is a meaningful way to honor their commitment and contributions. Thoughtful celebrations and recognitions can boost morale, strengthen engagement, and show appreciation for their hard work. Here are some ideas to help you get started:

1. Personal recognition through a digital platform

Recognition is at its most impactful when it’s specific and frequent. Here’s how you can amplify personal recognition through a recognition platform:

Daily recognition shout-outs: Schedule daily thank-you messages for team members during Healthcare HR Week. Share stories like, “Thanks to Sarah for quickly resolving credentialing issues for our new hires, ensuring no delays in patient care.”
Milestone-based messages: Send recognition for milestones, such as a message like, “Celebrating 5 years of incredible service from John in keeping our workforce engaged and thriving!”
Custom recognition templates: Create templates in Achievers with healthcare-specific language, allowing leaders to easily share thoughtful, personalized notes with a professional touch.

2. Spotlight achievements publicly

Publicly spotlighting achievements highlights the hard work of your healthcare HR team and inspires pride across the organization. Some ideas to consider:

Social media spotlights: Post on platforms like LinkedIn or your company’s social channels, tagging HR team members and sharing their accomplishments, such as managing staffing during peak flu season.
Employee recognition boards: Create a digital or physical board highlighting individual and team efforts, such as streamlining scheduling systems or successfully onboarding traveling nurses.
Newsletter features: Dedicate a section to tell inspiring stories, such as, “Meet Anna, who designed a program to improve mental health support for our healthcare workers. Her initiative has already seen a 30% increase in employee usage!”

3. Host team celebrations

Team celebrations create memorable experiences and show your healthcare HR professionals how much they’re valued. Here’s some impactful team celebrations:

On-site celebration events: Organize a breakfast or lunch where leaders thank the HR team in person, highlighting specific accomplishments like successful open enrollment or improved employee engagement scores.
Creative appreciation events: Host an “HR Carnival” with booths like “Recruitment Ring Toss” or “Compliance Trivia” where team members can win prizes and engage in a more relaxed setting with colleagues.
Virtual gatherings: If your HR team works remotely, arrange a virtual celebration with games like recognition bingo or HR-themed quizzes. End the event with a slideshow of the team’s contributions over the year.

4. Provide personalized rewards

Rewarding your healthcare HR team with meaningful gestures is a powerful way to celebrate their contributions and show genuine appreciation. Try these personalized rewards:

Points-based rewards: Use Achievers to award points for specific contributions, such as filling critical staffing gaps or improving benefits communication. Employees can redeem points for rewards they value most.
Unique gifting options: Allow the team to choose from curated gift options, like premium coffee subscriptions, local dining vouchers, or even experiences like escape room tickets.
Team-based rewards: Present a team reward, such as a group spa day or wellness retreat, for collective achievements like achieving low turnover in a competitive hiring market.

5. Offer professional development opportunities

Investing in professional development shows your commitment to the growth and success of your healthcare HR team. Opportunities could include:

Webinars: Pay for the team to attend a healthcare HR-focused webinar, such as one on overcoming workforce shortages.
Certifications: Cover the cost of a certification course in HR leadership or compliance.
Guest speakers: Bring in a guest speaker for a workshop on relevant topics like conflict resolution or talent analytics.

6. Design a peer recognition program

Peer recognition is a cornerstone of a healthy, engaged workplace and can help create a culture of appreciation and teamwork within your healthcare HR team. Consider:

Recognition chains: Start a “chain of thanks” where each HR team member recognizes a peer, creating a continuous loop of appreciation.
Virtual recognition wall: Create a virtual wall where peers can post notes like, “Thanks to Liz for always stepping in when things get busy during recruitment seasons!”
Monthly peer awards: Let team members vote for a “Colleague of the Month” to spotlight someone who consistently supports their peers. Pair the award with points to be redeemed in your curated marketplace.

7. Create a recognition-focused video

A recognition-focused video is a heartfelt way to honor your healthcare HR team. Here’s how you can implement it:

Team messages: Collect short thank-you messages from employees and leaders across departments, displaying the impact of the HR team’s work.
Highlight reel: Include clips of HR accomplishments, such as improving staffing levels or launching wellness programs, along with testimonials from employees.
Social sharing: Share the video on internal channels or social media to inspire broader appreciation across the organization.

What challenges do healthcare HR workers face?

Healthcare HR professionals play a vital role in keeping healthcare organizations running smoothly, often behind the scenes. From supporting overworked teams to tackling complex challenges, their efforts directly affect patient care, employee well-being, and organizational success. Some of the challenges they face on a daily basis include:

Staffing shortages: Healthcare HR teams are often tasked with filling vacancies in high-demand roles, particularly in clinical settings where shortages are widespread.
Burnout and stress management: They must help manage the well-being of an overworked staff, all while dealing with their own stress.
Compliance and regulation: Healthcare is one of the most heavily regulated industries. HR professionals must stay updated on several laws and policies, from labor regulations to patient privacy laws.
Employee retention: Teams must develop engagement strategies, offer competitive benefits, and create supportive work environments to hold onto top talent.
Technology integration: HR teams must seamlessly integrate new systems into their operations while training staff to use them effectively.

Why recognition matters for healthcare HR professionals

In a demanding industry like healthcare, recognition has a sincere impact on the hearts and minds of healthcare workers — especially in departments that are often overlooked, like human resources. In fact, research from Achievers 2024 State of Recognition Report shows that healthcare workers are 41% more likely to say they’re never recognized compared to average. This represents one of the worst industries for recognition frequency.

The reality is that frequent and meaningful recognition matters beyond Healthcare HR Week. Frequent and meaningful recognition means:

2x more self-reported productivity
50% less likely to look for outside work
61% more likely to feel a strong sense of belonging

Retention and engagement are at the heart of a strong healthcare organization. Investing time and effort into creating those regular moments of connection between leadership and HR will not only bring short-term happiness, but it will also create a foundation for long-term success.

The results of regular employee recognition in healthcare

Retention is one of the largest trends in the healthcare industry, with nurses, administrators, and HR teams often struggling with workplace demands, staffing shortages, and burnout. Companies like Wesley, a healthcare non-profit, felt the weight of those challenges and worked with Achievers to come up with a tangible solution.

With nationwide staffing shortages affecting their organization, Wesley worked on several programs aimed at improving the employee experience. Among them was Inspire, an Achievers-designed platform that would help create a unified culture and encourage positive behaviors and performances as the company grew — and the results were impactful. Their new social recognition and reward program, built on the science of belonging, included an annual engagement survey that saw their employee net promoter score jump 18 points year over year.

With Wesley executives empowering management to engage with employees and act on feedback, the company was able to see retention rates increase, and disengagement decrease.

“When you make your culture visible it really draws people in.” — Neal Martino, VP Human Resources, Wesley

Recognition beyond Healthcare HR Week

Recognition shouldn’t be saved exclusively for special occasions. They should be a regular part of your workplace culture.

According to Forbes, when employees in healthcare are recognized, it can lead to significant benefits, including 14% increase in productivity and 31% lower turnover. Here are some intentional ways to recognize your human resource team beyond Healthcare HR Week include:

Establish ongoing peer recognition programs
Schedule monthly check-ins with HR teams to show support
Create a rewards program that can customized with unique gifts and incentives

Showing your HR employees that you value their contributions every day, not just certain days, is the most effective way to increase engagement and belonging across the department. And when belonging is imbedded in your culture, it impacts the resiliency of your organization.

Celebrate Healthcare HR Week with Achievers

Healthcare HR Week is the perfect time to shine a spotlight on your HR team’s incredible contributions. But recognition shouldn’t end after this important week does. With the Achievers platform, driven by Achievers Recognize and Achievers Reward, you can create a culture of continuous appreciation through personalized rewards, peer recognition, and leadership-driven programs.

From celebrating big wins to recognizing everyday efforts, Achievers helps you show your healthcare HR professionals how much they’re valued — not just during Healthcare HR Week, but all year long. Make this March 17 the start of ongoing recognition that keeps your HR team engaged, motivated, and appreciated.

Champion your team this Healthcare HR Week

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