Award certificates are a great way to show off achievements, but I can think of a few reasons why a department manager might not use them for everyday employee recognition:

They’re more formal than some occasions merit. With the exception of a couple of our newer contemporary styles, most of our certificates feature ornate, sophisticated designs with traditional colors or foil accents. While these are just what you need for recognizing prestigious moments, they don’t necessarily fit the bill for day-to-day recognition.   

They take a little more time than an on-the-spot note. Baudville does offer easy-to-use templates for printing certificates, but you may not have time to download a template, type out your message, and run a certificate through the printer. (In truth, this only takes a few minutes, but I’m trying to make a point here…)

They require resources you might not have. If you work on the go or visit multiple locations—or you simply don’t have access to a computer or printer, certificates just won’t work for you at all.

Or will they?  

Ta-dah! Our new Day-to-Day Certificate Bundle Binder goes where you do and contains a variety of informal, all-occasion certificates that you fill in by hand. No technology required!

With theme sentiments that recognize everything from great moments to great attitudes, you will never be without a way to show appreciation for your team. Each binder includes tabbed dividers that organize 10 each of six different certificates for you to use when you want to:

Recognize all-around greatness. Maybe someone on your team helped out a coworker or finished a task ahead of schedule. The You’re Awesome certificate from our new Positive Praise theme and the Positive Mojo certificate from our ever-popular Exclamations™ theme are both perfect for when you need to acknowledge someone who goes the extra mile.

Say thank you. The You Are Truly Appreciated, Shining Star, and Thanks for All You Do! certificates are there when you need to show your team members a little gratitude—whether it’s for consistently providing great customer service or taking on extra work when you’re shorthanded.

Applaud a job well done. Ideal for when someone gives a great presentation, meets a goal, or completes a challenging project, the Great Job certificate says it all—simply.

Easy to use, ready for any occasion, and less than $1.00 each, these day-to-day certificates can’t be beat!

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Allison is Baudville’s one (and only) Copywriter. She’s been writing for a variety of media for more than nine years, so if she tells you she has been there and done that, she probably has. Before embarking on a career in writing, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer!

As part of our current blog series, tips and ideas for using our new recognition products, today is all about our newest signature day-to-day recognition product, Tokens of Appreciation. Hopefully you were able to attend my webisode today, too, where I talked about my ideas and answered your questions in our live video format. You can watch the webisode archive on Baudville.com or our Facebook page.

How to Use Tokens of Appreciation for Recognition

Because you can’t write a note on a token (there just isn’t enough room!), you need to express why someone is receiving recognition through public praise. Leaving a token on an employee’s desk with no explanation will not be motivating. You may choose to:

- Stop by an employee’s desk to deliver a token in person;
- Share your recognition of a peer in an email to several managers, then give her a token later;
- Give a shout out to a co-worker in a meeting and give a token right then and there!

You can incorporate Tokens of Appreciation into employee recognition programs in several different ways to make your recognition even more effective. I focused on three different employee recognition programs in my websiode that I’m going to share here.

1. Save & Redeem Employee Recognition Program
When I showed the tokens to attendees at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference, they immediately saw potential for tokens in a save and redeem employee recognition program. In a save and redeem program, employees collect tokens and turn them in to ”buy” recognition gifts predetermined by managers. It’s similar to an arcade where you collect tickets by playing games and then turn them in for various prizes.

To get a save and redeem employee recognition program started at your organization, first create the system. Decide how many tokens employees need to redeem for each gift. Ask employees to weigh in on the recognition gift scale. If employees think the scale is too difficult, they may give up on the program before it’s even started.

Be creative with your gifts, and get employee feedback. Your gifts don’t have to be expensive! I recommend casual days, snack or pop, small gift certificates (like $5 to Starbucks or Subway), travel mugs, extra time off, tickets to an event in town, or company wear (like our cool t-shirts).

Once you have your system set-up, communicate with employees. Have a team meeting to introduce the new employee recognition program and answer any questions. Add a document to the intranet that includes the token-gift scale, email it to staff so they have a personal copy, and post it in a public place. You can never over communicate about an employee recognition program!

Now it’s time to recognize! Have a collection of different themed Tokens of Appreciation ready, so you can recognize different situations with varying recognition sentiments. It’s wise to get a pack of Envelope Cards, too, and you can include a handwritten note with some of your tokens.

You should constantly seek employee feedback in your program. Employees will have new ideas for recognition gifts, how to use the tokens, who can give tokens, etc. The more you can implement their ideas, the more support and enthusiasm you will have for the program!

2. Manager-to-Employee Recognition Program
Another exciting way to utilize the Tokens of Appreciation in an employee recognition program is by equipping your individual managers with their own personalized tokens. Managers should always carry tokens with them, and when they catch employees doing something great, they should present the token to the employee on the spot. Employees can then display the tokens on a Magnetic Photo Frame at their desk.

This type of program is very popular and successful in the hospitality industry. One of our customers, Desert de Oro Foods, has a similar program using lapel pins . The employees try to collect a pin from each manager, and they proudly display them on their uniform. You can read more about Desert de Oro Food’s employee recognition program in the Case Study section of our Recognition Resource Center.

This employee recognition program is simple to execute, yet you can add a more formal element, too. At the end of the month, quarter or year, present special awards to employees who collect the most tokens, who collect the most tokens from different managers, and to the manager who gave the most tokens. Since employees will be keeping and displaying their tokens, you should be able to determine winners relatively easily. Then, present them with a Desktop Display, like a mini-trophy, to acknowledge their accomplishment.

3. Grassroots Employee Recognition Program
 Unfortunately, I often have customers tell me that their organization cannot afford an employee recognition program, so they purchase recognition products on their own. If you have a similar situation, you can use Tokens of Appreciation to start a grassroots employee recognition program in your organization.

Consider Tokens of Appreciation your personal employee recognition tool. Select your favorite recognition theme, and personalize the back of the tokens with your name. Tokens of Appreciation come in packs of 10, so they’re affordable even for your personal use. Now, look for reasons to recognize! When you want to thank a co-worker or say “great job,” give one of your tokens away. Explain to the recipient that you wanted to do a little something extra to acknowledge their contribution.  You can do this in person or with our Envelope Cards.

I guarantee that people will start to take notice of your recognition tactics! Recipients will talk about how cool it was to be recognized in such a personal way. Other managers and supervisors will want to get their own tokens as they notice how engaged and motivated your team has become.

Keep track of the comments you receive from recipients and teammates. Record the difference in performance or attitude once you start practicing recognition. Then take your findings to your boss and get an employee recognition program in place for everyone!

Those are the three employee recognition program ideas I have for the Tokens of Appreciation. I want to hear your ideas for Tokens of Appreciation and how you’re using them, too! Email me, comment on this entry, or post to our Facebook wall.  I’ll send you a free pack of tokens and token Envelope Cards as a thank you gift!

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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.

I just got back from Boston and the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) Education Forum and Annual Meeting. What a whirlwind! Even though the Office Expo is only two days, they were both incredibly busy!

Our booth stayed busy talking to attendees and showing off our new products!

I truly enjoyed talking to all the attendees because they understood the importance of recognition. Attendees went crazy for our new Premium Cheers Kits because of the ability to write a handwritten note on each of the kit components. It doesn’t hurt that the kits have unique keepsakes, too!

When it comes to practicing recognition, IAAP attendees must convince their boss to make the investment. This is common across industries and professions which is why we design products that are affordable (Cheers Kits are only $1 each time you recognize!) and easy to use. There’s no contract or high minimum to buy, and our recognition products don’t require intensive manager training.

I encourage customers to start small and try on recognition before they purchase tools for everyone. Plus, we have our 30 Day Employee Morale Guarantee. If you don’t see a rise in employee morale after using our recognition products for 30 days, we’ll refund your purchase with no questions asked. With that promise, you can’t afford not to recognize!

I also recommend reading our recognition white papers and sharing them with your boss. The Day-to-Day Recognition White Paper is full of valuable information and resources that demonstrate the value of regular recognition. Follow Baudville on Twitter and like Baudville on Facebook for regular recognition articles, blog posts and tips that can bring increased value to your organization.

Although our new IAAP friends are still in Boston today attending classes, I’m getting ready to continue our conversation. We will be following up with all of the attendees we saw at the booth with a special email offer, and for everyone who stopped by when our catalogs were gone, we’ll get one in the mail to you right away!

Thank you IAAP for a great expo and fun times in Boston!

One of the attendees recognized me from our webisodes, and she wanted to have her picture taken with the Director of Positive Mojo!

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On the surface, Kurt is Baudville’s mild-mannered Director of Sales, but when it comes to recognition, he quickly turns into the dashing Director of Positive Mojo. Using his powers as a Certified Recognition Professional, Kurt infuses his team with recognition knowledge and experience, while encouraging them to practice daily recognition with his energetic and creative flair. We’re pretty sure there’s a cape hanging from the back of his door. 

We just released over 250 new products at Baudville, which may leave you thinking: Cool products! But how do I use them at my organization?

I’m glad you asked.

Our new signature product, Tokens of Appreciation, has a lot of potential for creating an awesome employee recognition program, and I’m going to take 15 minutes next week to tell you some my ideas. Attending the webisode will be a great way to find out if the Tokens are a good fit for your organization.

Register on our Recognition TV page so you don’t miss any of my tips and ideas. Plus, there’s a chance there will be a special offer for attendees after the webisode. A very good chance. Wink wink.

See you next Thursday!

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With the popularity of our Cheers Kits and the love our customers have for our Exclamations™ theme, it seemed like a no brainer for us to design more Exclamations Cheers Kits. After months of serious brainstorming we finally emerged with 15 premium keepsakes that made it into three different kits. And you know that three kits makes a Caboodle, so you can see we really thought this through!

Today, I’m happy to show you these new kits and give you some ideas on how to use them.

The first kit, Stop. Recognize. Repeat. is your reminder to keep recognition ongoing. With 40 tools in each kit, you have plenty of opportunities to “repeat.”

This kit includes five each of:

Buttons: Make someone feel like “kind of a big deal” with this button.  

Bookmarks: The bookworms on your team will love this cool bookmark—and they’ll be reminded of your praise every time they use it!

Next, don’t forget to Say Yes to Awesomeness!

Lapel Pins: This brass pin is perfect for anyone on your team. The simple exclamation motif lets you celebrate any time when you need to say “great job!”
 
Sticky Notepads: Employees love gifts they can use. Each time they peel off a note to use it, they’ll smile knowing you think they’re sensational.

Stickers: Some people you can always count on to get the job done. When they do, reward them by letting them show the world who makes it happen.

Lollipop Cards: Know someone with a sweet tooth? This lollipop, combined with an all-occasion sentiment on the card, will be a big hit.   

Motivation is the name of the game with our Fire Up the Troops! kit. Giving recognition encourages your staff and inspires them to give their all.

This kit includes five each of:

ID Badges: Another great piece of wearable praise, this badge clips to almost anything and lets the recipient proudly show off your praise.

Pop-Up Notes: It’s kind of a trophy, kind of a note card…but no kind of about it, this pop-up note will definitely brighten up any desktop.

Maze Games: The whiz kids on your team will enjoy taking a minute to solve this fun puzzle. When they get to the finish, they’ll find out you think they’re amazing!
 
Balloons: This attention-getting balloon is perfect showing everyone on the team who went above & beyond. And recipients will be proud to display it in their workspace!

Door Hangers: What a fun way to reward the geniuses at your work! No door handle required—you can hang it on a wall with a magnet or pushpin!
   
These kits include 40 notes total, and at just about a $1.00 per note you can give them out daily without breaking the bank! Plus, with an assortment of keepsakes to wear, display, or use AND a variety of messages to recognize great work, smart thinking, or just all-around excellence, you’ll have a note for any occasion.

Just don’t forget the most important part: making it personal. Choose a card that suits the recipient and recognition moment, then write a note that specifically mentions the attitude, behavior, or accomplishment you’re rewarding. Above all, don’t forget to say “thanks!”

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Allison is Baudville’s one (and only) Copywriter. She’s been writing for a variety of media for more than nine years, so if she tells you she has been there and done that, she probably has. Before embarking on a career in writing, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer!

Two weeks ago, we launched over 250 new recognition products as the finale to our major product development cycle. Allison talked about some of the exciting new products in her blog post when the products became available on our website. New products always get us excited at Baudville, and this year is no exception. We have 6 new themes, 5 new Cheers Kits, a new signature product and much more. We love introducing new products to our customers!

While we know you’ll find our products to be pretty cool, we also want you to see the practical value they can bring to your workplace in the form of increased employee morale, retention, engagement and motivation.

We want our products to work for you, so over the next few weeks we’ll be giving you detailed how-to instructions for using our new products. Each week we’ll spotlight a different product and explain how you can use it in your organization. We’ll include product images and videos so you understand the product size, look and feel. We’ll give you tips to help you get the most out of every product you purchase from us.

If you’re looking for new employee recognition ideas or you’re planning to start an employee recognition program soon, check back every week for valuable tips and ideas.

Our first how-to blog post will be up on Tuesday, and I hope that you’ll also join us for our Recognition TV webisode next week, July 22. I’ll share several ideas for creating a custom employee recognition program with our new Tokens of Appreciation. It will be a great way to get the ideas flowing!

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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.

Welcome back from the holiday weekend! I hope you had a fun and safe holiday and enjoyed some relaxation over the long weekend. I know I did. I used my extra day to recuperate from the Society for Human Resource (SHRM) Annual Conference in San Diego. I spent four days in San Diego working the Baudville booth, mingling with the crowd at the SHRM-Monster Tweetup and talking to thousands of human resource professionals – literally!

If you’ve ever attended the SHRM Annual Conference, you know that it can be an overwhelming, exhausting and fabulous few days. You can see all the pictures from our trip to San Diego on our Facebook page.

Our focus at SHRM is the expo hall. We spend months planning our booth layout, graphics, giveaways even staff outfits, and it’s all designed to support our newest products. Last week, we launched over 250 new products that are designed to make you a Day Maker, a positive force in the office who makes someone’s day, and we were excited to show all the new products to the SHRM attendees. You can learn a few day making techniques in our Day Maker episode of Recognition TV.

We started the show with a bang by inviting attendees to enjoy red velvet cupcakes in our booth. While attendees mingled under our Tokens of Appreciation chandelier, we showed them our latest and greatest products. And when they moved on to the next booth, they took with them an exclusive “I put the HR in hero” tote bag, product samples, and a hot-off-the-press catalog.  Many attendees looked through the catalog at the end of the day, and came to the booth a second time to get another look at the products! (You won’t get your catalog for another week, but you can see all the products on our website.)

I talked to a lot of HR professionals in the expo hall, and I was excited to hear that many of them plan to implement a recognition program soon. Even the attendees who don’t have a formal budget for recognition plan on personally purchasing our products because they feel recognition is too important to ignore. Talk about dedication! If you’re one of those human resource pros still trying to convince the CEO to invest in recognition, check out our free white papers loaded with stats about the benefits of regular recognition.

One of my main takeaways from the conference was recognition is easy. It was awesome to watch attendees’ eyes light up when they saw how simple our products make recognition. There’s no complicated software, points formula or logins required. It’s all about personal, tangible pieces of recognition that convey the message, “you are appreciated.” It’s as simple as a handwritten note, a small keepsake or a token of appreciation.

Everyone can and should do recognition, but HR has the unique opportunity to be the recognition strategist and champion. By making simple solutions available to managers and providing simple training, HR professionals can encourage a culture of appreciation and engagement with little investment and big return. 

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (officially, she's 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.

We had a great Recognition TV webisode yesterday where Kurt shared tips on how you can be a Day Maker in your organization through positivity, recognition and fun. You can watch the video on our Facebook page, in the Recognition Resource Center on our website and read Kurt's tips right here on the blog.

We had a lot of great comments from attendees in the chat room who shared their best day making practices. We strongly believe that some of the best recognition ideas come from your peers, so here are those great ideas again!

"We put cheers cards in an envelope on our common area fridge so everyone has access to them."

"The 'thank you' notes in our department are put on a bulletin board, then the team leader hands them out, along with a DQ buck!"

"We use thanks slips that Managers fill in and give to staff. Then they get to cash them in for gift cards."

"For fun I have set-up "fun days" with my employees where we act silly and play guesstures or some other board game I bring from home. It is a really great morale & team builder."

"We have 45 restaurants, and I use the ePraise to send out to GMs for a good visit or sales!"

"I use the products as drawings for each box of old utility applications that my staff complete in scanning.  They love it!!!"

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Thanks to everyone who attended our live video webisode, How to Be a Day Maker, this morning! If you weren’t able to attend, you can view the recorded version in the Recognition TV section of our website or on our Facebook page.

In the next few weeks, you’ll hear a lot from Baudville about being a Day Maker. That’s because we’re releasing over 250 new products next week, and we believe you can use these products to make someone’s day at work. As a result, you’ll see employee morale, satisfaction and retention improve.

A Day Maker can be anyone in your organization, a manager, executive, supervisor, front line employee or intern. Ultimately, a Day Maker is someone who brings a positive attitude to work, recognizes on a regular basis and has fun in the workplace.

Be Positive
You can identify the current Day Makers in your organization by thinking about who participates in company events. At Baudville, we recently completed a ping pong tournament. It’s easy to see that the employees who participated in the tournament and those who turned out to cheer on their teammates are Day Makers who support our culture.

Identify your Day Makers and encourage them! Give them tools to help spread their positivity throughout the organization. I recommend our Cheers Kit or Recognition Binder because they have fun notes (the scratch off cards are my favorite!) and support personal recognition. 

Start acting like a Day Maker in your own organization by committing random acts of kindness. Bring in a cup of coffee for a co-worker who’s been working extra hard or refill the copy paper without being asked. You can do something as simple as putting a candy jar on your desk and encouraging people when they stop by for a treat!

Brenda encouraged her Customer Service team during a busy time with a snack basket!

Recognize Others
There are lots of day making recognition techniques you can use at work. The best part about recognition is that it encourages others to be Day Makers, too! Here are some ideas you can use:

- Give someone a compliment on their work or a recent performance
- Write a personal note to remind an employee how much you value her work. It can be quick and easy like our Peel and Stick Recognition Note Sets.
- Give positive feedback that reinforces an employee’s strengths
- Encourage others to recognize with a peer-to-peer recognition program like Shout Outs
- Make it personal by using personalized note cards or giveaways, like our new tokens

Make the Workplace Fun
A Day Maker can get serious results at work without being serious 24/7. Bringing fun to work makes the work environment more positive and inviting to your employees. It can be as simple as posting our free Print and Posts around the office or sending an ePraise . Our marketing department likes to share Dilbert cartoons each morning to set the tone for the day.

We’ve had a lot of success bringing fun to work by planning team events. Our Employee Appreciation Day Winter Olympic Games was a huge hit with employees because they had a chance to work together and socialize in a different setting. You can see all the highlights from the event on our Facebook page.

In the sales suite, we helped to keep attitudes positive during a busy time by providing stress kits to every employee with small toys and coupons for casual days, free pop and snacks. The employees participated in naming our traveling trophy and Play-Doh sculpture contests.

It’s simple to be a Day Maker, and the small things you do mean a lot to employees. From giving small gifts to writing handwritten notes to committing random acts of kindness, you can encourage employees, improve performances and keep everyone happy!

BoJack the traveling trophy and Play-Doh sculptures.

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On the surface, Kurt is Baudville’s mild-mannered Director of Sales, but when it comes to recognition, he quickly turns into the dashing Director of Positive Mojo. Using his powers as a Certified Recognition Professional, Kurt infuses his team with recognition knowledge and experience, while encouraging them to practice daily recognition with his energetic and creative flair. We’re pretty sure there’s a cape hanging from the back of his door. 

Temporarily, that is. A delegation of Baudvillians is packing up and moving out for next week’s Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference. We’ve spent the past several months planning our strategy for SHRM, getting the coolest giveaways, designing a show-stopping booth, and we’re finally ready! We have a few big things in store, and we hope you’ll join us next week at booth 831 to learn more! Here’s a taste of what you can expect in the Baudville booth:

• New Product Premiere. We’re releasing over 250 new products at SHRM this year. June 28 is the first day the products will be available on our website, and SHRM attendees who stop by our booth Sunday night will get a sneak peek. This product roll out includes a new signature day-to-day recognition product, six new themes, and sweet new Cheers Kits that you will want to get your hands on!


• Cool New Shirts. Attendees loved the fun sayings on our staff t-shirts last year. The shirts are back with new sayings that are sure to earn a few chuckles.


• Special Gifts for the Media. This year, we created a special media kit and offer that’s sure to cause the media to pause. I hope you’ll stop by the booth to chat, reach out via Twitter, or find me at the Monday night Tweetup. I guarantee you’ll be inspired by what you learn about Baudville!


• Sweet Swag. I don’t want to give away too many details, but HR attendees are going to have to have this bag!


• Cupcakes Galore. Once again, we’re partnering with a local gourmet cupcake bakery to celebrate the opening of the show and our new products. Stop by early on Sunday though, because these red velvet cupcakes are so delicious, they’re going to go fast!


• Show-Stopping Booth. We put a few special touches into the booth this year, and we have double the space. You’ll find Baudville in a 20x20 island booth in San Diego. We are super excited! We gave a sneak peek to some local customers a few weeks ago, but we kept a few surprises for SHRM attendees. We’re in booth 831 this year, and we hope you see you there!


• Not Going to San Diego? Bummer. You can follow all the excitement from the Baudville booth through social media. Follow @Baudville and me, @coricurtis on Twitter for the most recent updates direct from the conference. And check Facebook regularly for pictures, videos and more!

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (officially, she's 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.