Much like Valentine’s Day in the home of a happy couple, many feel that Employee Appreciation Day should be celebrated any and every day of the year. Apparently that’s what I was thinking when I wrote the copy for not one, but two of our catalog covers, boldly declaring Employee Appreciation Day as March 9th. (It’s actually March 5th.)

Hey, at least I’m consistent!

I don’t want anyone, especially not my boss, to think that I am taking this error lightly; but I do think this is an excellent opportunity to talk about the importance of appreciating your employees not just on scheduled holidays, but in small, day-to-day ways throughout the year.

Recognition holidays are important because they remind us to stop and celebrate the valuable people in our workplaces and our lives. Without these events, our administrative professionals, volunteers, customer service reps, teachers, and healthcare workers (to name a few) might not be remembered at all. But considering these events are only a blip on the radar screen of the year, it’s important to factor in all of the other days in between. For that, I recommend our new Recognize 365 calendar. It’s a stylish desktop piece, plus it features gentle prompts and useful note cards to help you make any day a special employee recognition event.

For those actual holidays, you can always check out our Event Calendar on Baudville.com. Something, perhaps, I should have done myself!

For some tried and true Employee Appreciation Day ideas, join us for a quick 15 minute webinar about Employee Appreciation Day on February 18th at 11:30am EST. Kurt, our Director of Positive Mojo, will share some great ideas on how you can celebrate Employee Appreciation Day with your employees in meaningful ways. Register on our website to attend!

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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!

I’m not making this up…

Once, at a former workplace, our espresso maker got more peer nominations for Employee of the Month than anyone else. A high performer, true…but really?

That was the state of our morale. Our spirits had been broken by circumstances too mind-boggling to adequately describe here; but, we were truly disenchanted and pretty much walked around like an office full of zombies. Zombies who really valued a strong cup of coffee in the afternoon.

• There is only one winner—and that can make everyone else feel like a loser.
• To be fair, winners are sometimes chosen on rotation (either deliberately or subconsciously), which actually isn’t fair at all. Or, just the opposite, the winner is always one of just a few top performers.
• There is often only a nomination-type system in place (with the potential for management or peer favoritism), rather than having a forum in which specific behaviors and achievements are rewarded.   

Knowing what I know now, we could have chosen a more inclusive method of recognition. In fact, working at Baudville, I’ve seen two powerful employee recognition programs in place that are much more effective than the traditional system of single-person nomination: day-to-day recognition and peer-to-peer recognition.

Day-to-day recognition focuses on genuine everyday expressions of appreciation that reinforce and reward positive behaviors. It’s administered mostly by managers through low cost tools like Cheers Kits™, Pocket Praise®, and our latest champion the Pintastic Manager. The important part is that everyone has the opportunity to be recognized on a regular basis, sometimes just for little things, which makes everyone feel good.

Peer-to-peer recognition is a subject I’ve already talked a lot about lately, so I’ll try to keep it brief. But a program like our internal Shout Outs incorporates our core values, which means we are given recognition for exemplifying behaviors and attitudes that matter to our company (and are also key to business success). Spot On is the same way. People know why they’re being recognized; and, as with day-to-day, peer recognition includes everyone, so we all get to feel like winners.

Both systems have the potential to elevate the entire team—all the time, any time—rather than just focusing on one person per month. They also create a positive culture in which giving and receiving recognition feels natural and sincere. Finally, people are enthusiastic about the programs and look forward to recognizing their staff and coworkers…not appliances!

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Allison is Baudville’s one (and only) Copywriter. She’s been writing for a variety of media for more than eight 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! 

When we set out to create our own internal peer recognition program, we had a pretty good feeling it was going to be popular. We’re Baudville, after all; if anyone knows how to recognize, we do. But I don’t think anyone expected that it would be this popular:

If you’re wondering what, exactly, you’re looking at, this is Baudville’s Shout Out wall where employees post recognition notes about their coworkers. It’s part of our peer recognition program, called Shout Outs, which encourages staff to recognize each other based on our company’s seven core values: inspire, nurture, share, perform, innovate, respond, & excel (it spells INSPIRE; clever, eh?).

At any point in the day, you can find a Baudvillian paused at the wall to read the latest post. People get excited to write them, read them, and most importantly, receive them. At the end of each month they get distributed to the recipients, who can’t help but post them up at their desks. What a way to spread positive mojo!

But, what we really love about peer recognition is the way it enhances our already thriving recognition program by giving staff the opportunity to share their input. Employees also have a better understanding and appreciation of the contributions of their coworkers—especially those they don’t work directly with. And, because managers see the Shout Outs, they get the inside scoop on all the day-to-day greatness going on.  

Thinking you want to try it at your office? Well, after test driving our program for about six months (and seeing amazing results), we decided it was a no brainer to bring this product to our customers. And we know you like variety, so we developed the program in three of our most popular themes: 

Shout Outs are inexpensive (only 50¢ per note), really easy to implement (you pretty much just need a wall), and a great way to energize a team without a lot of work from managers. See, really—a no brainer!

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Allison is Baudville’s one (and only) Copywriter. She’s been writing for a variety of media for more than eight 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!

Getting employee recognition started in your organization or team doesn’t have to be rocket science. Managers can choose a recognition theme, select coordinating tools and have a program up and running before you can say aeronautics. To start an employee recognition program for your team, follow these six easy steps:

Step 1: Choose a recognition theme. Use your team goals as a guide to select the right recognition theme. Because your team is evaluated on successfully achieving its goals, you’ll want to give recognition that reinforces goal-driven behaviors. Recognition themes focus on positive attitudes, excellent performance, teamwork, outstanding customer service and many more. Browse all 100+ options at the Baudville website.

Step 2: Get the right tools. Once you’ve found the recognition theme that’s right for your team, select your tools. This is where the recognition theme really comes in handy! The coordinating themed recognition tools, like note cards and lapel pins, serve as additional reinforcement for the recipient and make it more likely that he will repeat the behavior in the future. To find the right tools for you, take our Recognition Tool Finder quiz.

Step 3: Communicate and communicate some more! You can never over-communicate when it comes to your employee recognition program. First, introduce how the recognition program will work and how employees can earn recognition. Next, introduce your recognition theme and explain how it ties to team goals. Make the case for recognition – that it will improve morale and performance – and everyone will become a fan of the new program.

Step 4: Tune into awesomeness. Now is the fun part! Keep your eyes open for employee behaviors and attitudes that deserve recognition – and give it to them! Employee recognition is most effective when it is given immediately after the behavior takes place and includes a hand written note. Enjoy giving recognition to your team and watch how the attitudes and results improve!

Step 5: Observe your program. As you put your employee recognition program into practice, observe how employees respond and ask for their feedback. For your program to have a long-term impact on employee morale and performance, you will have to make changes and adjustments. After a few months, you may want to use a new recognition theme and focus on different objectives.

Step 6: Celebrate! As employee morale and performances improve, take time to celebrate as a team. Give special recognition to your stars and congratulate the team on meeting goals and milestones. Recognize the benefits the employee recognition program has had on your organization and be on the lookout to practice more recognition!

Our new Together Everyone Achieves More Theme is great for recognizing teamwork.

Today is Veteran’s Day. It’s a day when people and organizations across the country take time out of their busy schedules to recognize the service of the men and women who served in our armed forces.

We understand and appreciate the importance of veterans in protecting our country and our freedom, so we honor them by saying thank you and acknowledging their contributions. Veterans and active duty members alike are motivated and inspired by the words of thanks from others. The recognition they receive contributes to the satisfaction they receive from doing their jobs.

What if employees viewed their jobs like our veterans? What if they came to work each day understanding that their contribution was a part of the bigger picture? What if they got satisfaction out of doing a good job? What if they felt inspired?

Today is a day to honor veterans, but every other day is an opportunity for you to recognize your employees. Practice recognition on Veteran’s Day by sending a thank you card to a local VFW, and every day after that, use recognition and praise to inspire your workforce.

“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! “ - Maya Angelou

The holiday season is underway. All the usual signs are here: retail stores have put up the holiday displays, toy advertisements are in circulation, and that one annoying radio station has started playing Christmas music. At the same time, companies are beginning to consider the state of their holiday company celebrations. Typically, organizations take the end of the year as an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of staff and the successes of the company. However, this year, it may seem like there are fewer reasons to celebrate…and less to celebrate with.

After a challenging 2009, many organizations are wondering if they can afford to have the traditional holiday party. Even if budgets are tight this year, we recommend not giving up on the holiday party altogether. This event is a primary employee morale booster and an important demonstration of good will for your employees. Instead, brainstorm ideas that will help cut back on the costs of the event without sacrificing the appreciation employees receive. This Associated Press article by Joyce M. Rosenberg has several ideas to pare back your company celebration costs.

Baudville’s also risen to the challenge to help organizations give their employees some much needed recognition this year. We’ve created three new holiday themes and coordinating employee gifts that help managers and company leaders give appreciation during the holidays. Most of the products in the collections are under $10 each, making recognition extremely affordable.

This year, when you select your employee holiday gifts and awards, you may find yourself recognizing different behaviors. Instead of broken sales records and exceeded revenue goals, accomplishments this year may be more subtle. Recognize the effort and hard work that helped you get through the year. And if you’re lucky enough to be able to recognize exceeded goals, make a big deal about it!

Don’t forget that for appreciation to be truly effective, it needs to happen more than once a year. An excerpt from Joyce Rosenberg’s article says it all:

“The boss needs to let employees know their work is appreciated no matter what time of year it is. And along with the positive feedback an owner needs to give, there should be periodic events to lighten the collective spirit…If you lay the groundwork throughout the year, it makes for a much richer environment, and people are much more willing to share."

Try “laying the groundwork” of recognition all year with day-to-day recognition practices, and extend employee cheer year-round.

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation.

When I was at the HR Southwest Conference, I told many of the HR Professionals who stopped by the Baudville booth how easy it would be to train managers to use day-to-day recognition tools. Last week, I mentioned some of the day-to-day recognition that managers can easily implement in their regular schedule. In this entry, I’ll share some tips for training your managers to use those tools to motivate, engage and retain your people.

1. Identify desired behaviors. A major obstacle keeping managers from recognizing employees is knowing what behaviors should be recognized. With a team of managers, review corporate values and give specific examples of what each behavior looks like in real life.

For example, one of Baudville’s core values is Nurture. The value is all about encouraging growth and learning. In practice, nurture can be an employee training a peer or showing a new employee around the building. For each of your corporate values, give a couple examples of how the value is lived out day-to-day at your organization.

Do the same exercise with department goals. Managers should walk away from training with plenty of example behaviors to look for!

2. Go out and LOOK for recognition moments. Knowing what behaviors to recognize only takes managers so far. They have to make an effort to recognize, especially if they haven’t practiced employee recognition regularly before.

Encourage managers to take time out of each day to simply stop and observe their team. Tell them they must go out and look for achievements and successes – they won’t always find them. Managers can walk around the office and directly ask employees what has been going well. Then write a note and give it to them!

3. Make it a habit. A few walk-a-bouts in the office won’t make your managers recognition professionals. A great tip is to schedule time on the calendar for recognition. Once a day or once a week, having time set aside to write and deliver thank you notes will make recognition more likely to get completed.

That’s it! Identify behaviors, go out and look for recognition moments and make it a habit. Train your managers quickly on these three areas and let them loose with recognition tools. Be sure to establish follow up criteria and check up on them in a few weeks to see how they’re doing.

And don’t forget to schedule time on YOUR calendar to recognize your managers’ hard work and dedication to day-to-day recognition.

Get your managers into the best recognition shape of their careers with some easy manager recognition training!

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation.

Last week, I spent three days in Fort Worth, Texas, at the HR Southwest Human Resources Conference. The folks in Texas sure know how to put on a fantastic conference! Everything is so well done and everyone treated with exceptional care. A big thank you to all of the volunteers and staff who made the conference successful.

I’d also like to give a shout out to the local Hilton Fort Worth, which I believe is the friendliest hotel on earth. I received a last minute shipment Wednesday morning just an hour and a half before the exhibit hall opened. It was raining in the morning, and this awkwardly shaped package was going to require me and my co-worker to carry it together the 3 blocks to the convention center and our booth. Before we got out the door, the hotel manager rushed out to get his car, and he drove us right to the entrance. If that’s not a true display of customer service excellence at work, I don’t know what is!

Once we settled into our booth, we talked to 400+ human resources professionals over the two days the exhibit hall was open. Many of them had the same story: budgets have been cut and money is tight, but they feel the need to boost employee morale in their organizations now. Easy and affordable recognition options are a must for the attendees.

The challenges facing the HR Southwest attendees aren’t isolated to Texas. Employee morale and employee engagement are low across state and industry lines, and your top performers have been most affected.

As the year wraps up and the economy slowly begins to recover, organizations are running out of time to convince employees to stay. The key is communicating to employees that they are valued and appreciated by individuals (managers, leadership, etc.) and the organization as a whole.

When it comes to solutions, we (obviously) shared the tools in Baudville’s arsenal with attendees. Since we’ve been focusing on day-to-day recognition, our tools are designed to help managers engage employees in positive communication on a regular basis. We stressed how simple this can be with a good handwritten note, simple training (more on that coming soon!), and the right tools.

You know that a little employee morale boosting is necessary to retain your talent, and you know where you can get the tools to do it (cough Baudville.com cough). Over the next few weeks, we’ll bring you more tips and ideas on how to boost morale at the end of the year. Stay tuned!

Our awkwardly shaped package with important tradeshow items, and a few of the tools that were popular with HR Southwest attendees.

Last week we conducted a poll on our blog asking visitors if they use social media to give recognition. Here were the responses:

- 11.1% make sure every post has recognition
- 22.2% occasionally tweet a shout out
- 66.7% believe Facebook is a foreign entity

Our poll shows that 33.3% of respondents are using social media to express recognition and appreciation. I predict it will continue to grow as communication continues to be shaped by social media.

Social media has become a valuable tool for marketing, recruiting and sharing information. As more people jump on the social media bandwagon, giving feedback and praise will also become a common practice in these forums.

Today, many employees create and maintain personal “feel good files.” You may have given it another name, but I think you likely have a spot in your desk where you stash past thank you notes and cards of appreciation.

Every once in a while you even review your file for a little pick me up.

The words of thanks and appreciation remind you of past great performances and contributions to the organization. Every time you add another note to the file, you feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Imagine if your feel good file were on your online profile or your Twitter page. Not only would you be able to read through your feel good file when you needed a morale booster, but co-workers, managers, friends and recruiters could, too.

How would you respond if your boss gave you some props on your Facebook page? Or if someone contacted you about a job because of all the good things they’ve read about you?

Imagine your social media, loaded down with recognition...

On another note…

Did I mention that we now have a poll on our blog? Be sure to check back each week as it changes to give your two cents worth. For each poll, we’ll have a little write up (like this one) interpreting the results. Be a part of it!

You can receive updates from all of our blog entries, too, by subscribing to our blog email list on in the right hand navigation…right…over…there. Don’t miss any of the recognition updates!

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. In addition to writing for the Baudville blog, she’s taking on the task of flooding the Twitterverse with positive mojo. Find out more - and join her cause! - at www.Twitter.com/Baudville using the hash tag #positivemojo.

Employee engagement has been a hot topic lately as companies look to fire up the troops and generate a positive attitude and positive results. With so many blog entries, tweets and articles popping up about employee engagement, one can’t help but ask, is this simply the latest fad? And how do I get some employee engagement in my organization?

There’s no question about it, employee engagement is no here today, gone tomorrow fad. The Gallup Organization has shown employee engagement to be a key to success. Engaged workforces make more money, save more money, are more innovative and more productive than lesser engaged workforces. Need an example?

• Best Buy claims than a 2% increase in employee engagement corresponds to, on average, $100,000 annual rise in store sales.
• Campbell Soup Inc, after a devastating Gallup review, raised employee engagement scores from 62% of managers not actively engaged in their jobs to 68% actively engaged. In turn, investors enjoyed a 30% increase on their Campbell’s stock.

So how does one tap this magical resource of employee engagement? Unfortunately, there are no short cuts to improving employee engagement. It takes a lot of hard work by both the employer and the employee. That’s right, employee engagement is a two way street.

To start down the path to engaged employees, management and staff must engage in active communication. Managers should let employees know what’s working and what needs work and vice versa.

At Baudville, we feel strongly that day-to-day recognition is a powerful way to provide regular positive feedback. Even Businessweek finds it’s smart to be positive and optimistic in the workplace. So get some note cards, send a few ePraise cards, and start recognizing the behaviors that contribute to your organization’s success. The more you recognize specific behaviors and attitudes, the more they’ll pop up in the day-to-day routine.

We have a white paper on day-to-day recognition that focuses on employee engagement. Download it for free from our Recognition Resource Center.

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. In addition to writing for the Baudville blog, she’s taking on the task of flooding the Twitterverse with positive mojo. Find out more - and join her cause! - at www.Twitter.com/Baudville using the hash tag #positivemojo.