Achievements. Proudly displayed in offices, cubicles, in waiting rooms, on bookshelves, in the way we hold our heads high, shoulders back, walk with a pep in our step... we take pride in our achievements in many different ways. Being recognized for the value that we bring to our jobs, to our communities, to our families, is important. When we're recognized for our contributions, we want to do more.

It's important to note that not all achievements have to be acknowledged with grandiose crystal trophies. In fact, I would argue that smaller, more frequent acts of recognition and appreciation are more powerful than that once-in-a-blue-moon super celebration. And when the acknowledgement comes from all levels throughout the organization - peers, managers, leaders - the impact it has is more pronounced.

Our all-new Collect Your Flair Kits give you a program for recognizing defined behaviors throughout your organization, ultimately creating a culture of recognition and appreciation.

Kristy Sherlund, Baudville's VP of Product and Merchandising, explains the inspiration for our new Collect Your Flair Kits, "When I looked around most workspaces I found certificates hung on the walls, awards decorating desktops, and notes pinned up on cubicle walls – each representing a proud moment for the person displaying it. The power of pride can go viral and that's the kind of contagiousness, as a business leader, we want spreading around our offices. We designed our new Collect Your Flair Kits as a way for you to build a little friendly competition surrounded with pride in everyday achievements. So go ahead, spread the love and watch spirits soar!"

Each Kit includes 120 pieces of Flair Wear(TM), and you choose whether you'd like your team to collect and display their flair on lanyards or desktop frames.

The power is in the execution – define the behaviors you're going to reward, communicate with your team, and keep your eyes peeled for moments of greatness. Give flair, get results, and watch your team's success blossom!

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As a team member since 2005, Falon has worn just about every hat the ‘ville has to offer. She’s seen both sides of working life — as an employee and as a manager — so if it sounds like she knows what she’s talking about, we’re pretty sure that’s why. When she’s not juggling between the IDville and Baudville brands, she’s been known to whip up a mean diorama - just like that!

If you’re on a budget, but still want to give high-quality awards that are worthy of the achievements you’re rewarding, you’re in luck! We’ve recently designed three new trophy lines—all less than $30—that will honor your recipients, while still honoring your bank account!

My personal favorites are the Desktop Acrylic Trophies. They correlate with our most popular recognition themes, plus they’re colorful and beautifully designed. I work in the same space as our trophy designers, so I saw them being developed from the ground up—and I can assure you that they were painstakingly made with attention to detail, value, and artistry in mind.

Our next set of under $30 trophies were designed in response to the popularity of both our You Rock theme and our Tribute Trophies. Featuring bright jewel tones and fun shapes, they’re the perfect fit for informal award giving. These trophies are so popular, they’re even expanding beyond the workplace and becoming a big hit as sports team and academic awards!   

If these new trophies aren’t enough to light up your imagination, then maybe you’re looking for awards that actually do light up! Fitted with an inner light bulb that switches on and off at the base, these durable plastic Light-Up Trophies will be a glowing reminder of everyday achievements! Each trophy has a different shape that’s reminiscent of a favorite Baudville recognition theme—the perfect addition to your recognition program. 

And, I almost forgot: A recent addition to our Desktop Acrylic Trophy collection is one from our new Serious About Safety theme! This theme is ideal for manufacturing and industrial environments where workplace safety is of the utmost importance. The theme features a gender-neutral design and functional products you can use to promote and reward safe practices and behavior. The trophy makes a great individual or team award and is also under $30, so you can give freely.  

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Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for four years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 19 years. Before becoming a professional writer 12 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer! 

 

 

If you’re a busy manager—and, let’s face it: the words busy and manager are practically inseparable—then you might not think you have time to show employee appreciation. But, considering that 64% of Americans leave their jobs because they don’t feel appreciated (you can read about this statistic and more in our Day-to-Day Recognition White Paper), taking that little bit of time upfront can save you eons down the road.

This all makes sense; but, NEWS FLASH: you’re still busy!

At Baudville, we get it. Which is why whenever we develop new employee appreciation products, we always ask ourselves this question first, “Is it easy to use?” If we can’t answer yes, then it gets chucked into the brilliant-but-useless idea graveyard. Yes, we’re ruthless; but we do it for you!

You’ll be happy to know that several products made it past the gauntlet and into the winners’ circle this round. Here they are:

In Good Company – Business Cards with a Twist. We definitely did all the legwork for you here; you just need to add your five seconds of hand work! Simply pick out a card that represents the person you want to recognize, fill in his or her name, and deliver. If you have a Chief Imagination Office, a Professional Game Changer, or VP of Positive Mojo on staff, then these are the perfect notes for you.   

Talking Praise – Fun Desktop Notes. With 3-D being the big buzz this year, we thought we’d create our own notes that stand up, stand out, and stand apart from all the other flat note cards out there. Choose from one of six designs, write a quick note on the back, fold to make the word bubble pop out, and leave it on your recipient’s desk. What a fun, colorful, surprise way to give your praise!

Pop of Praise. When we talk to our customers, we commonly hear, “Don’t make me think!” Well, guess what? It is possible to give thoughtful employee appreciation without having to put hours of thought into it. Pop of Praise notes are perfect for quick, spur of the moment recognition—that happens in seconds! They’re available in three messaging themes and the notes inside are a random assortment of related messages. Just pull a note (it already says what you want to say), sign it, and stick it. What do you think of that?   

I Rock Today Sticker Set. I just wrote about these in my High Five for Friday post; but since they are still as awesome today as they were last week, I am bringing them up again. For a modest 37¢ per sticker, you can give someone bragging rights for an entire day. That’s a little bit of pocket change and a couple of minutes with a Sharpie for a long lasting memento of your admiration.
 

Memo Clip & Sticky Note Gift Set. These are sort of a hybrid tool: part gift, part handwritten note. And, the come in seven different themes! You can write a note of appreciation on one of the sticky notes, attach it to the clip, and present one to everyone on your team. They get a meaningful reminder of your appreciation; plus a memo clip and a pad of notes they can use at their desks every day.

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Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for three years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 18 years. Before becoming a professional writer 11 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer! 

In Michigan, though we never seem to fall short of ways to joke about the weather fluctuations, we can usually count on January to be consistently cold and snowy. Yet, somehow, the thermometer has peaked at nearly 50 degrees several days this week. The forecast for the rest of the week? Between 8-10 inches of the fluffy white stuff! There’s nothing like the unpredictable to overcomplicate getting dressed for the work day—as well as our commute to start or end the day.

It’s definitely nice to have options when Mother Nature throws a curve ball, and my co-workers and I are really happy that we’ve earned new Take a Casual Day and Take a Free Hour tokens that we can cash in for just these occasions. (In anticipation, I'm using one of mine today, by the way!)

These new products are part of our new Token Super Bundle that was designed with save and redeem employee recognition programs in mind.

Here’s what’s in the bundle and what you can do with them:

Star and Kudos Point Tokens: Hand out these tokens on the spot when you see everyday greatness in action. These are meant to be casual forms of recognition, so think small: maybe James helped Laura fix a paper jam just in time to get her printout for an important meeting. Or, Melissa stayed late one evening to finish a project.   
Employees can collect them to cash in for prizes of your choosing, or save and redeem them for other tokens in the bundle, like:

Take a Casual Day and Take a Free Hour Tokens: What’s better than a low cost employee reward that has a really high value to the members of your team? In a bundle, tokens are just under $1.25 each and the rewards themselves cost you little or nothing. Use them in conjunction with the other tokens, or on their own for bigger recognition moments. But, remember, they’re still informal for day-to-day, so don’t wait until someone solves world peace to give one out!   

Have a Treat on Me Tokens: I like these tokens for giving your employees a little face time. When you award one of these tokens, make it special by doing something as simple as having a nice chat with your team member as you walk to the vending machine. Or, make it more official by setting up a time to take a short coffee or snack break together. They’ll enjoy the free treat as well as the personal one-on-one time that shows you care. Plus, who doesn’t need a warm bevvie to perk up the day? (Especially us Michiganders!)

If you’re looking for small, affordable ways to engage your team and motivate them to go above and beyond, Tokens of Appreciation are your ticket. Incorporate them into a save and redeem program to create an added incentive and you’ll see everyone stepping up their game!

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Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She’s been writing for Baudville for three years and has worked in a variety of business settings for more than 18 years. Before becoming a professional writer 11 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She’s what we call a true believer!

As our days are becoming shorter and the air crisper, nature is telling us back to school is around the corner. My first day back to school is the 29th, which is less than a week away. Yikes! Back to school for me means, last year of classes, running my advertising club, volunteering for a professor, and of course, enjoying my friends. Oh but wait, best of all I will still be here at Baudville writing blog posts for you to enjoy!

Last year, another student and I helped a professor of mine put on an advertising competition in Grand Rapids. Throughout the entire experience the three of us would go get coffee once a week to meet and talk about what had been accomplished, what needed to be fulfilled, and then how our lives were going. He took time out of his busy schedule to sit down with us, see how we were doing, and get to know us a little better.

On top of the weekly coffee meetings, I would get emails once or twice a week with words of encouragement telling me to keep up the good work, and praising me for a job well done. These would always bring a smile to my face. The emails motivated me to keep up the hard work, even though I was really busy.

At the end of the year, Grand Valley State University put on a dinner party recognizing all the volunteers and workers for their efforts. This was a perfect way to end the year! I was told that I did a great job and thanked for all my hard work.

Recognizing your student volunteers and workers doesn’t need to be super expensive or grand.  Trust me; students understand the importance of free!

 

6 Inexpensive tips for acknowledging back to school student workers or volunteers:

1.    Make sure you take time out of your schedule to get to know your student workers because they are taking time out of their busy schedules to help you.

2.    Acknowledge your student workers with a fun low-cost note card, pocket praise, email, or ePraise, our free ecards. These are great was to let your student workers know you care. 

                         Thank You theme Pocket Praise are a great way to write a small note of praise!

3.    Throw a pizza party, have a potluck picnic, bring in cookies, or just have a candy jar. Let's be serious - what student doesn’t like some type of free food!

4.    Have a team bonding day. If your school has volley-ball courts, go out and play a couple games, or get a bocce ball or cornhole game going. Do something as a team that is easily available to you.

5.    Take your student workers or volunteers out for a cup of coffee. Coffee shops are a nice relaxing area to learn more about them!

6.    For more free ideas check out our Recognition Resource Center.

 

Come on, join the conversation!

Click the button below to start sharing your inexpensive tips to recognize student workers or volunteers!

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Kendra is the newest Baudvillian. She is currently an advertising intellectual at Grand Valley State University, and is ecstatic about the change of atmosphere as Baudville’s web marketing intern. Watch out because this young professional just touched down at Baudville.