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As a leader, how can you show some love on HR Day? It’s not just about celebrating your HR team — though they absolutely deserve it. It’s a chance to recognize the broader role you play in shaping a thriving workplace and driving positive impact across your organization.
On May 20, 2026, HR Day marks its seventh anniversary. It’s a global celebration where HR professionals reflect on their impact, learn from industry leaders, and tackle the most pressing challenges in people leadership through events and conferences worldwide.
Today, HR is more than a function — it’s a force. From shaping culture to boosting engagement and performance, HR teams have become the heartbeat of modern organizations. They’re not just policy stewards — they’re people champions. And the best ones know: When you invest in your people, they invest right back. Positivity at work isn’t just contagious — it’s powerful.
The true value of HR in today’s workplace
The impact of HR in today’s workplace can’t be understated. They drive the employee experience, business outcomes, performance, productivity, retention, and so much more. When their strategies succeed, they minimize recruitment and retention costs while maximizing your organization’s most valuable asset: its people.
Think of how much has changed in the workplace in just the last decade. HR has led organizations through thick and thin, from hybrid work to DEI to AI integration. HR challenges are everyone’s challenges. When a storm hits, they’re not just bailing out the ship. They’re standing at the helm.
HR exists in an increasingly complex role. Achievers Workforce Institute’s (AWI) 2024 Engagement and Retention Report found that over half of HR leaders say that they’ve had to learn multiple new skills in the last two years as they lead organizations out of multiple crises, from COVID-19 to economic downturns and unprecedented talent shortages. They’ve had to stay nimble to keep up. Facing all of that change, teams that find themselves supported by leadership are more likely to drive positive business outcomes than departments that are under-resourced and overwhelmed.
Recognizing HR: Why celebration fuels motivation
HR is at the heart of efforts to improve business performance. They’re the heroes who don’t wear capes at your workplace, but they can’t do it alone. Just like your other departments, they need recognition to feel supported, valued, and cared for by leadership. AWI data shows that frequent employee recognition improves retention even more than better compensation. An incredible 72% of employees say they would stay longer in a job where they felt supported than in a job where they didn’t but earned 30% more.
HR Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the emotional labor and invisible work HR does every day. There’s a ripple effect that happens when HR teams feel recognized and appreciated. They spread that positivity along, creating a culture of recognition across the company that will be reflected in retention, productivity, and employee engagement. HR drives better outcomes, but they can’t do it on an empty tank. HR Day is your chance to refuel, remotivate, and reenergize your people.
5 meaningful ways to celebrate HR Day
We’ve all seen a notification one morning that it’s a day to appreciate someone in the workplace. Everybody gets their own day, from Boss’s Day to Hug a Plumber Day. But your team doesn’t need another empty gesture. When you celebrate HR Day, make sure it means something. These are some tips for using an employee engagement platform like Achievers to celebrate in a way that your HR team will find real, authentic, and impactful:
Spotlight HR stories on your company feed
HR does a lot of work that isn’t instantly recognizable. When everything’s running smoothly, it’s because HR has put in the work to lift the company culture and focus on results. Use Achievers to feature those behind-the-scenes wins like resolving conflicts, launching wellness programs, and improving onboarding processes.
Spotlighting HR stories brings attention to all the things HR does that become invisible when they work. It’s a simple gesture that puts eyes on the important work they do. Creating a culture of recognition starts with celebrating your team’s wins. Featuring them on your company feed is a simple way to start and shows that you’re paying attention.
Empower employees to recognize HR team members
Recognition from your colleagues and peers can mean just as much, if not more, than the feedback you get from leaders and managers. Peer recognition taps into the bonds colleagues build and strengthens a sense of belonging, security, and confidence in the workplace.
Achievers excels at facilitating peer-to-peer recognition across an organization. The platform turns peer-to-peer recognition into a daily practice, empowering employees to recognize HR team members for the incredible work that they do. Everyone’s had to lean on HR at some point in their careers. Encourage employees to shout out great work when it happens, not just on HR Day but every day.
Deliver personalized, public eCards
Celebratory eCards tell your team that they’re seen and appreciated. Making them personalized, public eCards puts the spotlight on everyone in your HR department, recognizing their individual efforts and their collective impact. An organizational culture in which people know their work will be celebrated lifts everyone up.
Combine recognition with incentives like flexible gifts or points-based rewards that can be exchanged for rewards that employees choose themselves. Achievers makes gestures like this natural and seamless, and they integrate directly with the communication apps you already use every day.
Launch a themed recognition campaign
Short-term campaigns can be one of the most effective tools large organizations have for appreciation days like HR Day. Leadership can encourage participation with fun hashtags like #ThanksHR or #PeopleFirst to make it easy for other team members to show their love and appreciation for the people who make everyone’s lives easier.
Your team can tell you that supporting and publicizing key initiatives is a critical component of successful HR communications. Make sure HR Day gets its time in the spotlight in your email blasts and Slack channels.
Tie recognition to rewards
When you’re celebrating HR Day, consider tying recognition to something meaningful, such as experience-based rewards and wellness perks. Employee rewards make your recognitions more impactful, and experience- or wellness-based rewards are some of the most in-demand and effective at combating burnout and absenteeism.
While wellness programs are more effective when they’re applied across the board, experience rewards like restaurant gift cards and free subscriptions to wellness apps can have a long-lasting benefit for employees that keeps them engaged and bolsters their sense of loyalty.
Beyond the day: How to support HR year-round
As important as it is to shout out your HR team on their day, it can feel like a hollow gesture if they’re not supported year-round. Create a workplace environment that promotes continuous recognition for all employees. When your people feel seen, they feel supported.
You can also support HR by ensuring they have access to the right HR communication tools and feedback loops that empower them to adapt and adjust their campaigns and initiatives. Employee engagement programs like Achievers can turn employee feedback into real impact. They allow HR to gather continuous feedback, quickly gauge changes in employee sentiment, and support employees at every stage of their journey. Nothing says support like giving your people the best tools for the job.
Don’t forget to make space for wellness for your HR team. They’re constantly supporting the rest of your team, but they need support, too. HR needs mental health days, work-life boundaries, and support from leadership.
It’s time to give back to the team that gives so much
Your HR team is the silent engine powering engagement, connection, and company culture. When everything’s running smoothly, you don’t hear a squeak. But that doesn’t mean HR doesn’t need care and maintenance to keep performing its best. On HR Day 2026, let’s make gratitude visible — loud, proud, and platform-powered.
With Achievers, recognition becomes easy, authentic, and lasting. Achievers is a favorite tool of HR departments for boosting engagement and cultivating morale, but they can benefit from the same recognition that Achievers encourages. This HR Day, it’s time to give back to those who always give their all.
