If you’re like 88% of companies in the U.S., you have employee recognition programs in place. Most likely, at least one of those programs is dedicated to recognizing employees’ years of service. According to a study conducted by WorldatWork, 90% of organizations with recognition programs honor length of service. You can read the entire study here. 

Years of service recognition programs are an important part of an employee appreciation and retention strategy. By celebrating employees on the anniversary of their hire date, you’re able to acknowledge their time, contributions, and talents. That’s key to getting great talent to stick around!

When your recognition program plays such an important role in the retention of your team, you want to make sure it works well. The last thing you want is for a top performer to receive their award late, damaged, or worse: receive nothing at all!

We strongly believe years of service recognition programs should be part of an organization’s recognition strategy, and we believe it should be easy for managers, memorable for recipients, and affordable for the organization. 

That’s why we’re so excited to announce that we now offer a turn-key years of service recognition program!

Now you can work with our recognition specialists to create a program that fits your organization while simplifying the process for yourself. Choose the presentation packaging and award offering, and customize the program with your branding for a program that’s truly unique and tax law compliant. 

How does this simplify your years of service recognition program? It significantly reduces the legwork you have to put into the program. Once you send the list of employees and their anniversary date to your program manager, our experienced team takes care of everything else! You no longer have to scramble for an anniversary card, place a last minute gift order, or track down the manager with a reminder. Instead, professional presentation materials will be delivered to you, ready to give to the recipient for a “wow” moment. No hassle required!

We’re really excited about this addition to our collection, and we looking forward to serving you with the same high quality creativity and service you’ve learned to expect from the Baudville team! To learn more, sign up to receive more information from our recognition specialists.

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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.

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! 

 

 

Award presentations are a common occurrence in the working world. We recognize behaviors we want to see repeated, so we often present awards to honor years of service, accomplishments, and outstanding performances. 

When you make an award presentation, you want the employee to feel appreciated, valued, and hopefully reinforce their commitment to the organization. Make sure your award presentation has the desired effect with careful planning. We’ve distilled the most important elements of a successful award presentation into the following four tips:

Set the Stage
You can enhance the effectiveness of your award presentation by setting the stage. Consider your location and the setting. Does it reinforce the prestige and importance of the award? If not, change locations or make a few enhancements. You can easily improve an award presentation setting with balloons, signs, and decorations in the theme of the award.

Select an Award
The physical award you present to the recipient should be appropriate for the honor. Select your award item carefully and have a second person proofread your engraving. An award with a typo or misspelled recipient name will not achieve your desired result. Finally, before the award presentation, review the item one final time. Make sure it looks great and wipe off any fingerprints.

Prepare Your Remarks
What you say in an award presentation is more important than the award item. Your remarks will have an important impact on how the recipient feels. When you prepare and practice your remarks, you’re more likely to make the recipient feel unique, special, and valued.

Invite an Audience
Great achievements deserve public praise! Get the entire team involved in your award presentation. You can invite teammates to simply watch the presentation or give them a role. For instance, ask a few individuals to share their own stories about the award recipient to make the presentation even more special.

An award presentation isn’t something you should whip up in a few minutes. With careful planning, you can make your award recipient feel like a star! 

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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.

Many organizations have annual award ceremonies in the fourth quarter to celebrate outstanding performances and team accomplishments. However, it’s common for annual events to become a little tired year after year. To keep things fresh and exciting, you need to introduce new elements to your event. One way you can enhance the award experience is by changing your recognition award.

This year we set an ambitious goal to bring you an even larger selection of new trophies and awards for your year end award ceremonies. You can now shop 75 new trophies and awards in our trophy collection, many of which are exclusive Baudville designs! For a little guidance on adding extra “oomph” to this year’s award ceremony, we’ve put together five ways you can freshen up your annual award ceremony with new Baudville trophies.

1. Select a Colorful Trophy.
Traditional award trophies are beautiful creations made out of glass, crystal, and wood. Why not add some extra pizzazz to your award ceremony by introducing some color? Our new Brilliant Colored Glass Awards still offer the prestige of a glass trophy while adding a little fun with the bright graphics. For a sophisticated award, our Art Glass Trophies double as art for an office or home.

2. Incorporate Your Recognition Theme.
Several of our new trophies incorporate our well-known recognition themes into their design to complement your existing recognition program or event theme. Your annual award ceremony is a great time to reinforce the theme you’ve been using all year. You can try the new Themed Plaques, Desktop Acrylic Trophies, or Crystal Character Trophies for formal themed awards.

3. Create a Custom Award.
Make your awards unique to your organization by adding custom engraving. It’s easy! You can add your own logo or write your own award verse. When you order $100 or any one trophy, customization is absolutely free. Our new trophies offer large engraving areas so you have an even larger canvas to use to create your own award.

4. Choose a Character Story Award Verse.
Some of our most popular awards incorporate a Character Story. Our Character Stories eloquently express appreciation for unique traits and skills. There are over 100 stories to choose from, so you’re sure to find one for every award recipient! Our Jade Character Trophies are the most popular award for delivering a Character Story, but don’t forget about silver engraved gifts. These practical gifts will be a lasting reminder of the award for years to come!

5. Add a Gift Bag.
Vital to the success of your award ceremony is how you present the awards. To make the award presentation go smoothly, download our Award Presentation Guide and practicing your speech. Then order gift bags for each recipient. Prior to the award ceremony, place the trophy boxes in the gift bags. This will make it easier for recipients to carry their awards and will create a nicer presentation at your event.

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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.

The fourth quarter is the most common time of year for award ceremonies. Companies are completing their fiscal year, individuals are wrapping up projects, and teams are evaluating goals. When all the analyses and evaluations are done, it will be time to recognize outstanding performers and performances from the year.

When you honor an individual at a public award ceremony, you have a great opportunity to impact their motivation, dedication, and engagement. You can also inspire everyone in attendance! Careful planning of your awards event will make sure your recognition hits the mark.

We’ve created many resources to help you to create a memorable awards event. Start with our highlighted content below then browse through our collection of Award Ceremony information  in the Recognition Resource Center.
 
Award Presentation Guide – Say all the right things during your award presentation when you practice with this helpful guide. It walks you through the key elements of an award presentation so you know what you want to say ahead of the event.

Award Presentation Ideas  Webisodes – Baudville recognition experts share valuable advice and tips for award presentations. These short videos are packed with ideas that will make your awards more memorable.

Trophy Videos – We have over 70 new trophies available for this year’s award season. To get the best feel for these new awards, watch our products videos. They are the best way to understand the size of the award and its different features.

Free Recognition eBooks – Get ideas to make your awards sparkle and make a grand impression on both your recipients and your guests. Winning Ways to Recognize Your Stars ebook   includes handy hints to make your recognition more effective. If you’re looking for ideas on how to celebrate your employees’ accomplishments, read the Milestones chapter from the Team Up! eBook. Both of these should provide some inspiration for your next awards event!

Award Ceremony Newsletters – We’ve carefully selected a few of our Recognition at Work newsletters from the archive that are all about award ceremonies. Learn more about formal awards, tips for recognizing with award certificates, and more.

Gift Finder – Don’t let the title fool you! Our popular tool can help you find a trophy that will fit your budget and occasion. Begin by selecting the “Award Trophies” product category then continue to refine the results by price, occasion, and theme until you find the award that’s just right for your event.

Formal awards and award ceremonies are part of an effective recognition strategy. If you take the event seriously and plan carefully, your employees will feel appreciated and motivated for another year! For even more resources, tips, and ideas, visit our Recognition Resource Center.

What are your best tips and advice for upcoming award ceremonies? What have you learned from trial and error? What are your best practices? Tell us about it here!

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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.