8 ways to Celebrate Father’s Day at your Office

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 17th –– which means it is time to celebrate and acknowledge those who are fathers at your office. From single dads to grandfathers, to men or women who are father figures to others, here are some creative ways you can make the day meaningful and not go unnoticed

1. Give a gift. We are way past a #1 dad coffee mug or a goofy tie. Give a good gift. One that is thoughtful and not from the dollar section at Target. Even if you don’t know your dads personally to know what they would be interested in, there are items out there that still say “I appreciate you!” A Yeti coffee cup is an upgrade from the classic coffee mug. It’s sexy, durable, and will certainly look at lot cooler sitting on someone’s desk. Other ideas: Man crates — something for every guy in the office or maybe something they can do, like a round of golf.
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. Take a brewery tour, go to a sporting event, or play a game together as a team. Depending on where you live, there are a lot of activities you can do even during the workday. Having the outing during work hours ensures that your employees are likely to attend and builds comradery with your team. You may come home exhausted from an intense pickle-ball tournament, but your employees will have memories and new friendships.
4. Family friendly picnic in a park. Invite the entire family to hang out for an afternoon. Head to a local park or community center and celebrate all of your dads together with family and the office. Invite your team members to bring a brown bag lunch or cater a lunch for all to enjoy. While at the park, have some activities for the kids (eg, face painting, water balloons, potato sack races) or have a competition between dads (eg, tug of war, an obstacle course, a basketball or kickball game). Either way, the family will love having been included and dads will get to show off their cute kiddos to everyone else at the office.
5. 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’s going to the zoo to see a polar bear or to a new movie about their favorite superhero, treat your dads to doing these activities with their kids. That might be as easy as movie tickets, a zoo pass, or tickets to a local sporting event. Let the dads know you are thinking about them AND their kids.
6. Time off. This may be the simplest thing you can do for your dads in the office. Give your dads time off to be with their families or to do whatever they want since it's their day. You could even surprise your dads 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 don’t schedule meetings on those days.
7. Parental Leave Presentation. Whether you have several dads or dad prospects, it’s important for your employees to know they are truly valued not only for the work they do in the office but for the role they play in the lives of their children. Have your dads give a presentation to the company about the awesome benefits and leave your company offers when their children were born
8. Dad Joke Contest. Have your employees submit the best dad jokes they can come up with and read them at the next town hall or all-hands meeting.

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 staff member, so take time to recognize the dads in your office; they deserve it!