5 Ways to Celebrate National Custodial Workers Recognition Day

This Sunday, October 2, is National Custodial Workers Recognition Day—a chance to show appreciation to the custodians who keep our offices, hospitals, schools, retail businesses, and other facilities clean, safe, and healthy for the people who occupy those buildings.

Since this day falls on a Sunday in 2022, business managers might want to choose a business day—either that Friday or Monday—to fully celebrate the daily hard work provided by custodians.

Here are five ways management and fellow co-workers can show their appreciation and celebrate all that custodians do to make life better.

1. Recognition through writing. A card or poster filled with co-workers’ signatures and kind words can go a long way in recognizing custodians and letting them know they are appreciated.

2. Throw a potluck. Food feeds not only the body but the soul. Celebrate with lots of snacks, sandwiches, sweets, and social interaction, with opportunities for the custodial staff to learn firsthand how much what they do means to others. When lunch is over, make sure other employees—not the custodians—clean up.

3. Create a contest. A contest can help bring together and involve everyone within the facility. It can revolve around just about anything: recorded interviews, photos, funny video clips, poems, essays—something creative that reveals how much an employee appreciates a particular custodian. Come up with simple prizes (perhaps a pizza day or a day off) for both the winning co-worker and the chosen custodian.

4. Give them a break. Allow other employees to take on some roles and tasks of the custodial staff that day, if only for a few minutes. Doing so could be both educational and potentially humorous, as others get a taste of the difficult work custodians need to perform every day.

5. Show them the money. Nothing is as useful and as versatile as a monetary gift. A cash bonus or a gift card would always be a welcomed surprise.