Last year, the team at Baudville undertook a significant marketing initiative – to re-launch the brand with a new focus, hundreds of new products and a marketing campaign to announce our changes to the world. It was a lot of work and a ton of fun, and at the end of it all I think we all felt great about the outcome of our efforts. Best of all, our customers responded with praise and orders. By all accounts it was a success, and then came the icing on the cake: we received notice that the international direct marketing community had taken notice as well, as we were nominated for a John R. Caples award for our promotional campaigns.

Last week, I travelled to New York City for the awards gala – a fancy big city event attended by some of the highest-profile advertising agencies in the world. My table alone was represented by four countries, which, as I learned, was a pretty big deal. So when the time came for our category to be announced I brimmed with excitement. “How could our work not win?”, I thought. But the envelope opened and… we lost. 

Then a funny thing happened. Yes, I was a bit blue we did not get the hardware; but, more than that I was inspired and motivated. “Why couldn’t Baudville do something bigger and better this year?”, I thought. We can do work as good as them. Simply being nominated with the big guys gave me the belief that we could be as good as them or better. And so a seasoned “awards guy” was reminded of one of the great tenets of recognition events: they can be as motivating for the losers as the winners. 

Sometimes we worry about the impact of a few people getting awards. Why go to all the effort to make a few people feel good and the rest go unrewarded? Simple. The type of people you want on your team will be as motivated seeing the winners win as the winners themselves.

So here I am, back at the office. No hardware in hand; but a head full of new ideas and a renewed energy to beat the big guys in 2011; convinced that we can turn this loss into a win.

Cheers, 

Brad 

Baudville President & CEO 

Thanks to everyone who attended our live webisode broadcast this morning! If you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry! You can view the recorded version in the Recognition TV section on our website or on Baudville's Facebook fan page. Plus, I’m going to recap some of my favorite award presentation ideas right here!

The key to a memorable and effective award presentation is making the award personal to the recipient. You can do this by sharing stories about the recipient during the award presentation, inviting her family to attend, or presenting the award at a special event. 

The actual award presentation itself is also very important!  You must practice, practice, practice! For a great presentation, be sure to pronounce the recipient’s name correctly. Ask her manager or Human Resources if you have questions. In your speech, include specific details about how she earned the award, and tie her achievements to company goals and performances. 

I mentioned several different Baudville products in the webisode that can be used as part of your personal award presentations. Here they are!

For our formal awards at Baudville, we present the Crystalline Tower Trophy  to award recipients. We add a custom message, the recipient’s name and date to personalize the award. When creating your award, be sure to spell check! For a more budget-friendly award, present an award certificate to the recipient. When personalized, it can be just as memorable!

Struggling for the right words for your award presentation? You can create an award with a Character Pin and read the story at the award presentation. When recognizing a team or group of people, select a different Character Pin for each recipient based on their contributions, characteristics and personality. For more prestigious occasions, you can put a character story on a Jade Glass Trophy  or an engrave-any-story gift. 

If you don’t know the award recipient well, have her complete a Tell Us About You form. This form is great for award presentations because it gives you some personal information about the recipient, and it can be a valuable tool for your other recognition programs, too.

Don’t forget, award presentations can be fun! For an easy day-to-day award, leave a paper trophy on an employee’s desk with your personal note. I recently surprised a new employee with one to celebrate his one month anniversary on our team!

As I mentioned earlier today, if you have any award presentation questions that didn’t get answered during the broadcast, email them to us at recognition@baudville.com, post them as a comment here or on Facebook. Our recognition specialists will respond to every question!

Thanks again for joining me today. Mark your calendars for next month’s episode on April 22nd!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.

Spring is filled with appreciation events: Volunteer Appreciation Week, Administrative Professionals Week, Teacher Appreciation Week and National Nurses Week all happen in quick succession! It’s also a time of year when we hear and share great appreciation event ideas from our customers. One of my favorite appreciation event stories recently came from Mount Prospect, Illinois.

As Volunteer Coordinator for the Mount Prospect Public Library, Janet Keena is responsible for an annual appreciation event for over 100 library volunteers. “We annually throw a special brunch in their honor to say thank you for their services,” she explained. The entire event revolves around a theme, which is followed down to the finest detail.

For a past event, Janet was inspired by our Essential Piece theme. “We get your catalog at the library, and I really liked the Essential Piece,” Janet said. “Everything just fell into place from there.”

When Janet plans an event, she doesn’t just decorate; she creates an ambience. To complement the Essential Piece theme, Janet created her own puzzle piece placemats and puzzle piece cookie bouquets.  The room was decorated in red, orange, yellow, and purple – colors from the Essential Piece artwork. “I really want to make it special, and I was very pleased with how the room looked,” she said.

As a gift to the volunteers, Janet placed an Essential Piece memo clip and note cube at each seat. Janet’s volunteers appreciated the gifts because they could be put to use at home or in the office. “You don’t give a gift just to give something. The gifts they got could be easily utilized at home,” she said.  

Each year, Janet’s appreciation brunch is a fun and memorable event for the Mount Prospect Library volunteers. “It was one of my favorite brunches,” she said of the Essential Piece event. The volunteers were big fans, too. “Oh, the volunteers loved it, loved everything. They loved how the room looked, the theme, and the gifts,” said Janet.

Hosting an appreciation event is a great way to recognize the time and energy of volunteers – or any other group! - this spring. If you like Janet’s Essential Piece idea, I list below the materials and supplies she used. Are you using a different theme for your appreciation event? Tell us about and send pictures or post them all on our Facebook page!

Janet’s Essential Piece Event Supplies:
Red, orange, yellow and purple decorations
Essential Piece Memo Clips and Adhesive Note Cubes gifts
Homemade puzzle piece cookie bouquet centerpieces
Puzzle piece shaped placemats

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Gen Y generation. Get her daily employee recognition tips by becoming a fan of Baudville on Facebook.

Great workplace lists pop up all over the place these days. Organizations vie for a spot on Fortune’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For or the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small and Medium Sized Companies. Then there are the plethora of local lists, like the West Michigan 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For that has honored Baudville the past four years. 

At Baudville, there is a distinct level of pride when we announce another successful year as a 101 Best and Brightest Company. We celebrate the achievement as a team with a casual day and often a special treat. This time, we enjoyed delicious pie from the Grand Traverse Pie Company. Yum!

But the designation of a great workplace means a lot more than a slice of pie or an award plaque. 

Being named a great company makes our employees feel great, and that’s something our company (like other greats) can take to the bank. When your organization is great, your people are great. When your people are great, their work is great, and that makes your company even greater. Catch my drift? 

Employees want to feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Take a look at any of the research conducted on the Gen Y workers, and you’ll notice that this generation desires to make a difference in their work lives. Whether or not they find meaning in their job influences where they choose to work and more importantly, where they choose to stay.  

Wanting to make a difference may be a characteristic of Gen Y, but it’s a common motivator for the other generations, too.  When your workplace is great, it shows in the attitudes, performance and retention of your employees. Ultimately, it can really pay off.

Creating a great workplace and a positive culture doesn’t happen over night, and it requires a holistic human resource strategy based on industry best practices. Thankfully, there’s lots of information available to give you ideas and suggestions, and loads of interested and knowledgeable people on social media willing to give you advice. And then there’s Baudville. We’re here, on Twitter and Facebook ready to walk the talk and share our ideas. After all, we think they’re pretty great. 

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Gen Y generation. Get her daily employee recognition tips by becoming a fan of Baudville on Facebook.

A majority of organizations have some form of an award. It may be an annual Employee of the Year achievement or a five year service award. Regardless, the award presentation is as important to the recipient as the award itself. Register for Baudville’s next episode of Recognition TV next week, March 25, to learn award presentation ideas that will make your presentations more personal and impactful!

 

This episode of Recognition TV will:

- Answer what are awards and why do they matter?

- Discuss how to make an award presentation personal

- Share strategies for making a great award presentation

- And talk about choosing a great award

 

If there’s enough time, I have some fun award presentation ideas to share that will bring some levity to the office!

Our webisodes are only 15 minutes long, so they’re very easy to fit into your busy schedule. If you’re unable to participate live, we’ll post a recorded version here and on Baudville.com shortly after the websiode concludes. 

If you have time to do some “homework” for the webisode, watch our Cubicle Chronicles. They’re a great example of what NOT to do!

I hope you’ll be able to join me!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.