When it’s time to give an employee reward, a tangible gift along with your recognition, deciding what that something should be can be tricky. You want the reward to be memorable and motivating, but how do you achieve that?

We recently posted a poll on our website asking, what is your favorite employee reward to receive, and the results are in:

Gift card – 39%
Handwritten note – 39%
Personal gift – 20%
Ecard – 2%

Now compare these results to your assumptions of what rewards people give most often. They probably don’t match up, do they? I would guess you receive a lot more ecards than handwritten notes.

For the most effective employee rewards, do what we did: ask your employees about their preferences. Then act on the information you learn.

Regardless of what employee reward you are giving, always give the reward with specific recognition. If you don’t tell the employee what they did to receive the recognition, they won’t be able to repeat it.

Tip: Combine the top two rewards by giving a handwritten note, complete with your specific recognition, with a gift card as a motivating employee reward.

Give your employees the kind of employee reward they truly want...it may not be your traditional trophy cup.

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

As Baudville’s copywriter, I am painfully aware of the number of themes we have that relate to making a difference (if you’ve ever had to write repeatedly about the concept of making a difference without saying making, a, or difference, then you know what I’m talking about).

But there is a very good reason we have so many themes of this nature. There are so many ways that a person can make a difference, whether it’s volunteering for a non-profit, working as a caregiver, or having significant impact in a business setting. All people in all situations have the power to affect the world around them in a positive way, which means our customers need to have choices when it comes to thanking these folks.

So, we have Making the Difference, You Make the Difference, Making a Difference, You Make a World of Difference, and You Made the Difference. We also have one called The Power of One that has a "you make a world of difference" tagline.

Inside these four walls, we giggle about the redundancy (or maybe it’s just me alone in my cubicle); but it’s actually very serious business. When you think about it, it’s pretty profound that there is such demand for this sentiment. In fact, this Saturday is National Make a Difference Day—a whole day dedicated to (here it comes) making a difference! The organization that instituted this holiday focuses on the philanthropic aspect, but since we know that making a difference can take so many forms, we like to promote them all.

Wondering how you can get involved? One way is to participate directly in volunteer efforts in your community. The Make a Difference Day web site has a project finder for activities already going on in your neighborhood. Or, you can organize your own project and use their idea generator to help you get started.

You can also consider every day Make a Difference Day, and focus on the little things you can do all the time to create positive change. At work, in your neighborhood, at school, for the environment, on the political front, on the other side of the world, or even by smiling at the right person at the right time—there are opportunities everywhere!   

Finally, possibly the most significant way you can do your part is to encourage (and thank) those who make a difference. That’s not why they’re doing it, but that doesn’t mean we all don’t appreciate the efforts any less. And guess what? We have just the thing…

  

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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!

Last week, Cindy, our HR Manager, shared some information about how we plan special employee recognition events at Baudville. She talked about the cross-department team that organizes all our employee recognition events. We created the SPIRIT team to represent all departments in event planning, to bring more recognition ideas to the table, and add extra hands to the employee recognition event planning process. 

One of the most difficult parts of employee recognition events is coming up with fun and creative recognition ideas. Here are a few Baudville favorites from past Customer Service Week celebrations to get you started. Customer Service Week is October 5-9, so there’s still plenty of time to plan!

Ice cream social. Ice cream was brought onsite by a local ice cream shop, and ice cream was scooped and served by our CEO and SVP.

Lunch and the prize wheel. It’s nearly a tradition at Baudville to end the week with a team lunch. Everyone enjoys sandwiches and an opportunity to spin the prize wheel for a Baudville gift, gift card, lottery ticket or day off.

Games for the desk. Employees look forward to our celebration weeks because they offer a change of pace from business as usual. Throwing in a couple games or puzzles they can complete at their desk is a simple recognition idea that keeps the celebration going even as work gets done.

Mock elections. Last year, employees were asked to vote for the company Chatter Box, Messiest and Cleanest Desk, Team Spirit and Baudville Clown among others. Winners had their pictures displayed inside an engravable photo frame. Many still have their “trophy” displayed on their desk.

Pictures! We love taking pictures from our events and later posting them on our intranet and internal newsletter. Document your Customer Service Week celebrations to keep the positive mojo flowing long after the event ends.

Prepared to serve up some ice cream for Customer Service Week!

Check out our new Customer Service Week theme for more ideas to use this year.

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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.

Yesterday, readers received Recognition at Work, our new monthly e-newsletter, for the first time. Since Baudville recently unveiled a new look and over 250 new day-to-day recognition products, it seemed only right that our monthly newsletter get a facelift, too! Our new newsletter will continue to provide great employee recognition ideas, best practices and news with a new emphasis on day-to-day recognition. 

The following is an excerpt from our new newsletter. To read the complete issue and past newsletters full of employee recognition ideas, visit our Recognition Resource Center Newsletter Archive. The July issue is titled “Fire Up the Troops.” To receive Recognition at Work, simply submit your email address at www.baudville.com.

The strategy behind the “new Baudville” and our new products was fueled by the changing workplace. With multiple generations, new technology and the economy all shaping the way we work, we saw a need for recognition that’s easy and affordable.

After all, if you believe motivation and engagement are important to an organization’s success, you know they’re more important now than ever. Especially when budgets are tight, companies are looking for affordable ways to get their troops fired up and boost the bottom line at the same time. We’ve got some great employee recongiton ideas to help you do exactly that.

Ways to Fire Up

- One of the most motivating ways to give recognition is through a personal hand written note. We designed a majority of our new products around this concept. All we had to do was walk around Baudville and see the notes posted all over desks to know how true it is!

- Equip managers with recognition tools that can quickly and easily be applied to say “Thanks” or “Great Job.” See the Best Practices section of this issue for details about our new Recognition Binder System which puts over 100 recognition tools at the finger tips of your managers.

- Don’t limit the responsibility of recognition only to managers. Give the whole team an overview of day-to-day recognition, the genuine everyday expressions of appreciation given to reinforce and reward positive behaviors. Equip the entire team with the tools to praise.

- Get people excited about recognition by recognizing the praise they’re giving. When a manager or a team empties their Kudos Kit, celebrate! Reward daily recognition participation by giving casual days, treats in the break room or creating a festive atmosphere with balloons. Your people will appreciate the small things, and you’ll notice they can make a big difference.

We’ve all seen them. The Employee of the Month plaques hung with pride for all to see in retail stores, restaurants and offices alike. The plaque is displayed to demonstrate the priority the organization places on its people. After all, people are our greatest assets.

But what message does it send when that plaque is hanging empty and covered in dust? A recent article by Pam Sievers explored this topic.

What I enjoyed most about Sievers take on the neglected program was the strategy she outlined for having employee recognition at all:

“The most important reason is to "align behaviors with the goals making your organization successful". Yes, you are recognizing employees who are helping the organization meet their goals.”

Work days now are more jam-packed and go by faster than ever before; employees have more work, more pressure and less time. As a result, recognition often falls by the wayside. Plus, when employees are cramming so much into one day, how can managers properly recognize their contributions to company goals when a program only allows for one award once a month?

Infrequent recognition won’t reinforce the behaviors you see occurring on a daily basis, and it’s hard to maintain momentum behind a program that only gets publicized once a month. Supporting a monthly program with a daily recognition program can keep energy going around recognition and prevent dust from collecting too thickly.

All it takes is a small hand written note or a token of appreciation. It doesn't have to be anything big. Fun certificates are another great way to communicate with employees: “What you’re doing matters, and you’re doing a great job.”

Today, recognition is more than just a pat on the back. It’s a means of giving feedback to employees about the job they’re doing. Now that’s something to recognize.

We’re back, and SHRM 2009 has officially come to a close! The entire team feels the show was a complete success. We could not have received more positive feedback from attendees about our new products and marketing. Here are a few highlights:

Our delicious hook on Sunday night drew attendees to our booth with the sweet smell of chocolate, white almond and butter cream. The gourmet cupcakes were a huge hit among the attendees! In fact, they were so popular that no one on the Baudville team had a chance to sample them! All 500 cupcakes were devoured in a mere 40 minutes. Those HR professionals are hungry people!

We’ve always known our customers to be Stupendous people, and now they have the tote bag to prove it! Our “I’m with Stupendous” bags generated quite a buzz around the tradeshow floor for their high quality material and witty line. The bag is one of 25 brand new products in our Exclamations theme. If you like the bag, you’ll love our Pocket Praise cards and other themed gifts.

Our sassy t-shirts were popular among attendees. Which saying is your favorite? Write us a comment with your pick. Any new ideas? Let us know!

1. My boss thinks I’m kind of a big deal.
2. File me under fantastic.
3. Does my positive mojo go with these shoes?
4. Awesome is my favorite accessory.
5. Medium t-shirt, x-large super star.
6. I’ve got a serious case of the positives.

Our favorite part of the conference was the positive feedback from attendees about our new products. Throughout the development process, our excitement for the new products has grown. It was thrilling to hear attendees began to echo our sentiments of praise for the new designs, sentiments and products. Attendees found the new products to be cute, clever affordable and easy to use. We hope they’ll soon start using the new products and put day-to-day recognition to work for their organizations.

A big thank you to everyone who visited the Baudville booth and experienced the place for daily recognition. We hope you’re as excited about the new Baudville and our new products as we are! Remember our launch has only just begun – the first batch of new catalogs hit mailboxes July 13th!

Over the past year all of us at Baudville have come to know and be obsessed with “the new brand launch” so much so that after a while the process can become as much the goal as the goal itself.  I was reminded of this one night my wife asked me “so why are you re-launching the brand – what’s the point?” 

At first I was indignant and about to respond with the quick reply of a business guy that it was necessary to grow the company, or a key part of our strategic plan, or some like reason based in sound business logic – which would be true as that is where much of the process and decisions to rebrand the company started.  But something stopped me short of a terse reply.

A time for change

Often times over the past year I have wondered if we could achieve what we were setting out to do – after all I had scoffed many times at other companies attempts to reinvent themselves – what’s the point, I often thought, of saying something new when you really didn’t have anything new to say?  Was Baudville so different – did we in fact have something more to say? 

Then round about the middle of this whole thing something big happened.  The Recession.  The economic struggle played out in many theatres big and small – from big government to small towns; our nation’s largest corporations to small businesses just like Baudville; and over the course of that the national mood has soured – and without question it seems as though work life was just not as fun as it once had been.

And while all this was happening around us something was happening here at Baudville too.  Yes the leaders of the company were talking about change and the evolution of a brand, but our team was more than listening; they were creating that change.  Often times as a small business owner I reflect on the short but simple words of Teddy Roosevelt, “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”  A phrase required for a company of less than 80 employees with big goals and usually a translation to “okay guys – let’s just do the best we can.”   But over the past year, I have witnessed much more than the best we can.   I have seen our staff come together around a common goal – one that at once had significance for only our business, but over its life has come to represent for me what our economy and most certainly our work life needs most.

A healthy dose of positivity

It’s that simple really.  Seems we have all been caught in a downward spiral of late – and while no simple thank you, or ‘atta boy can fix a company or pay a mortgage, what it can do is change an attitude, make someone smile, or turn a day from down to up.  Put a few of those together and the impact on a company can be huge.

Okay so back to the question, what’s the point?  Well it took me a little while to get there but it seems after developing over 250 new products, 10 new themes, and 1 new brand the point has become clear; 80 people working everyday to make our company and yours a better place to work – I’d say that’s worth and exclamation point!  Do we have something to say – you bet we do – and it matters now more than ever.

I hope you find something in our new store that will help you influence those you work with and who work for you in a positive way – I can tell you it has made all the difference here and it can where you are too.

I look forward to hearing your success stories – feel free to email me anytime.

Cheers! 

Brad
President
Baudville Inc

brad@baudville.com