As a leader, you’ll often be called upon to give a thank you speech at the end of the year to your employees. Whether it’s something formal at the winter party or just a few words right before a long break, your employees will appreciate hearing a thank you speech for their hard work. You might think that they already know you appreciate them, but going one step further and saying it out loud will remove any doubt.
When I think about great end of year celebration speeches, my mind keeps coming back to one word: gratitude.
What employees want to hear most at the end of year is an expression of gratitude from their leaders. It’s not necessarily about whether you hit particular sales targets or other goals, but that you recognize the hard work that it took to get there. Even if the year wasn’t the greatest, your employees still persevered through some tough times. Let them know how much you appreciate their efforts.
Gratitude, as a theme, can then be the anchor for the rest of your speech. You can use what you are grateful for in your employees to talk about the challenges and goals facing your company in the next year.
When putting together a thank you speech for your employees for your end of year speech, use these questions to get the thoughts going:
What went well this past year? If your company has a mission statement and values that are really important, how did the company exemplify those values?
What are you most looking forward to for next year?
What challenges did your company and employees face and how did you overcome theme?
What challenges lie ahead and how will you meet them?
Are there any specific departments or employees that did an outstanding job that should be recognized?
What specific action(s) do you want your audience to take because of hearing your speech?
Photo by Winston Chen on Unsplash
Comments