A majority of organizations have some form of an award. It may be an annual Employee of the Year achievement or a five year service award. Regardless, the award presentation is as important to the recipient as the award itself. Register for Baudville’s next episode of Recognition TV next week, March 25, to learn award presentation ideas that will make your presentations more personal and impactful!

 

This episode of Recognition TV will:

- Answer what are awards and why do they matter?

- Discuss how to make an award presentation personal

- Share strategies for making a great award presentation

- And talk about choosing a great award

 

If there’s enough time, I have some fun award presentation ideas to share that will bring some levity to the office!

Our webisodes are only 15 minutes long, so they’re very easy to fit into your busy schedule. If you’re unable to participate live, we’ll post a recorded version here and on Baudville.com shortly after the websiode concludes. 

If you have time to do some “homework” for the webisode, watch our Cubicle Chronicles. They’re a great example of what NOT to do!

I hope you’ll be able to join me!

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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.

Baudville has been active on Twitter for almost a year. We post tips, offers and content that’s relevant to employee recognition and engagement. My favorite thing about Twitter – other than engaging with interesting and knowledgeable professionals – is discovering and sharing new content. 

On any given Friday, you’ll see a multitude of tweets including #followfriday or #ff for short. Follow Friday was started by a single Twitter user who wanted his friends and followers to each suggest a person to follow, and the trend grew. Follow Fridays have been going on for over a year now. In social media years, that’s old! 

This week, I wanted to share a few articles and Twitter accounts with you through my own expanded version of Follow Friday. I’ve listed a couple interesting articles from the week and the author’s Twitter account. If you decide to join Twitter, you’ll already know who to follow!

 

"What HR Can Learn from the Oscars" by @jpelliotphd

On his blog Managing the Curve, JP Elliot shares his insights into the true significance of the Oscars and – shocker – it’s not the fashion. It’s the recognition. For Hollywood, winning an Oscar marks the pinnacle of a career. Achievement awards can hold the same cultural significance in your organization, too. Read JP’s article for his tips to create your own award program.

"Working on your bracketology? The boss hopes not!" from the San Francisco Chronicle

Sunday is selection day for the NCAA men’s basketball championships, and next Thursday and Friday rival Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving) for loss of productivity in the workplace. Although employees may spend work time filling out brackets and checking game scores, the common activity improves employee morale and camaraderie. Is the trade off worth it? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment. 

The Forum for People Performance Management on Twitter @FORUMForPEOPLE

The Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement has long been one of my go-to sources for valid research on employee engagement and motivation. Their Twitter account updates followers on their latest research topics, reports and relevant articles. A great follow for anyone on the lookout for workplace motivation strategies. 

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her daily Employee Appreciation Day tips and weekly deals by becoming a fan of Baudville on Facebook.

Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY. We’ve been talking about Employee Appreciation Day for five weeks, and it’s finally here! Hopefully our webinar, blog posts, articles and ideas have fueled your passion for employee appreciation!

Now that Employee Appreciation Day is upon us, we want to know how you’re celebrating. Tell us what kind of activities you did, what gifts you gave out, and what your theme was for the day. You can post your comments on our blog or Facebook page. Be sure to take pictures, and post those, too!

We strongly believe that one of the best places to get ideas for employee recognition is from your peers. So don’t be stingy! Share all those great ideas!

We’ll get the sharing started with a preview of what’s in store for our Baudvillians. We’ve seen several articles about using the momentum of the Olympics to keep employee spirit and morale high at work, and we’re acting on it!

Tomorrow, we’re hosting the Baudville Winter Olympics for our Employee Appreciation Day celebration. All employees have been assigned to one of eight teams. Each team is assigned a color for its identity, and we passed out colorful bandanas to serve as “uniforms.” We made sure to create cross-departmental teams, so employees will interact with peers they may not typically work with. Teams are already getting into the competitive spirit! Bandanas are proudly displayed on desks and cubicles and some rowdy team members have started singing their team's praises. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day!

There’s a schedule of six events, and at the end of the day we’re hosting closing ceremonies complete with awards! To keep up the team’ strength, we’re having lunch catered by Moe’s Southwest Grill - a Baudville favorite for lunch. It’s quite a treat!

I can’t share many more details right now, but I’ll be sure to give you a complete summary next week!

Enjoy Employee Appreciation Day!

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her daily Employee Appreciation Day tips and weekly deals by becoming a fan of Baudville on Facebook.

We broadcasted our first webinar this morning live on Ustream and had a great turn out! If you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry! You can view the recorded version in any number of locations: in the Recognition TV section on our website, Baudville's Facebook fan page, or on Baudville's ustream channel!

 

I showed a lot of different Baudville products in the presentation, and I wanted to make sure you could find them for your Employee Appreciation Day planning.   

• Candy bars, Fun Treat Gift Bags and mints can all be found in the edible gifts section of our website. PLUS, Facebook fans save 15% this week only!
• Scratch off cards and coupons can be found in our Recognition Binder. You can use the other tools after Employee Appreciation Day to keep the positive mojo rolling!
• You Rock rock. Need I say more? This thing is fun!
• To find the lapel-pin card combo I showed earlier, check out our Pintastic Managers. Watch the product demo video for a quick how-to training session.
• The Pad of Fun is full of activities like mad-libs and cross words that make recognition fun and easy for you.
• And don’t forget notecards for all those handwritten notes you’ll be writing!

Like we said during the webinar, if you have any Employee Appreciation Day questions that didn’t get answered during the broadcast, email them to us at recognition@baudville.com, post them as a comment here or on Facebook. Our recognition specialists will respond to every question!

More great Employee Appreciation Day ideas are available on our blog, in our Recognition Resource Center and on Facebook. You have all the tools necessary to have a memorable Employee Appreciation Day. Now start recognizing!

 

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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

 

When it comes time to plan for Employee Appreciation Day, I always recommend making manager-to-employee handwritten notes a part of the day.  My enthusiasm for this simple act of appreciation comes from my experience at Baudville.

Each Employee Appreciation Day, I've always started the day by finding a handwritten note from my manager on my desk.  I still have each of these notes (and many others) stored away for safekeeping because the personal note reminds me that I'm a valued part of the team.

 

As you prepare for Employee Appreciation Day, – only 16 days to go! – you may want to start writing your notes of appreciation early, especially if you have a large team. I’ve put together 8 steps that you should follow when writing each note. Follow my guide, and your employees will be saving their notes for safekeeping, too!

 

If you’re looking for more ideas to make Employee Appreciation Day personal and meaningful for your employees, sign up for our live video webisode this Thursday at 11:30am EST. You can register on our website!

 

1. Begin with the recipient’s name.

2. Say “Thank you.”

3. Be specific about what qualities in the recipient you appreciate. 
    “The dedication you put into every project…” 
    “Your positive attitude…”

4. Discuss the impact of the behavior or action. 
    “Your effort keeps our projects on time and under budget.” 
    “Your creative thinking keeps the team energized with new ideas.”

5. Connect the behavior to the company’s goals and mission. 
    “Thanks to you, we’re sure to meet our goals!”

    “You’re a great leader.”

6. Say “Thank you” again.

7. Wrap up your thank you note with an appropriate sign off. 
    “Keep up the great work!” 
    “Cheers!”

8. Sign your name.

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her daily Employee Appreciation Day tips and weekly deals by becoming a fan of Baudville on Facebook.

Employee morale. Employee engagement. Employee retention.

These workplace issues have already dominated 2010 business news. Employee satisfaction is reportedly at a 22 year low in the United States with only 45% of Americans satisfied with their jobs and half of current workers planning to make a career move as the economy recovers.

The first Friday of March is an opportunity for employers and managers to boost employee morale and satisfaction in workplaces. Employee Appreciation Day annually focuses the attention of all employers in all industries on employee recognition. Employee recognition is a powerful motivator for employees and when used regularly, can give a company an advantage over the competition. Read our white papers for more data and stats on the benefits recognition can have in the workplace. 

Employee Appreciation Day can have a significant impact on the attitude and morale of your employees this year. To help make it successful, we’ve prepared 25 Employee Recognition Day tips and ideas that we will share daily through Twitter and Facebook. Plus, each Monday our tip will include a special weekly deal (become a Facebook fan to get all the details!) to help you plan your Employee Appreciation Day. Become a fan or start following us today so you won’t miss any of these great tips!

If you’re serious about making a difference in your workplace culture this year, you can get more in depth information and ideas in our Recognition Resource Center. We’ve created several articles especially for Employee Appreciation Day. Have a question? Got a great idea to share? We want to hear it! You can send it to us through Facebook, Twitter or by posting a comment on this blog.

We hope you have a successful and influential Employee Appreciation Day!

Employee Appreciation Day Articles
 Employee Appreciation Day Team Activities
 Why You Should Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day
 Employee Appreciation Day Gifts
 Employee Appreciation Day Themes

Make employees feel appreciated on Employee Appreciation Day!

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.

It’s time to put 2009 behind us – finally! – and set the priorities and resolutions that will bring success in 2010. To help you get a fresh start in the new year, we’ve come out with 142 new products, 3 new themes and 14 new manager tools. Plus, this month we’re implementing our new Employee Morale Guarantee.

Baudville has always stood behind its products with a 30 day product guarantee. The Employee Morale Guarantee also backs up the impact we believe our products can have on your staff. We’re so confident that our products will be effective that we’ll give you a refund if you don’t notice a rise in employee morale.

We recommend that managers who have previously identified themselves as “recognition skeptics” – and you know who you are! – use this opportunity to take recognition for a test drive. What do you have to lose? If the product doesn’t work, you can get a refund! And if it does, you’re stuck with all the advantages of increased employee morale: higher engagement and ultimately improved company performance.

Managers can find the right recognition product to use by completing our Recognition Tool Finder quiz, a five question quiz that determines, based on your answers, the right recognition products for them. And you’re sure to find something you like within our large repertoire of recognition products.

       Making the Difference is one of the six different themes the Pintastic Manager is available in.

Our latest and greatest manger tool is the Pintastic Manager. It’s our latest “signature” product that joins our popular Caboodle and provides everything managers need to give day-to-day recognition all in one binder. The binder comes with 32 coordinating lapel pins and cards and has built in spaces for making a record of all the recognition you’ve given.

2010 is underway, and there’s no time to lose when it comes to increasing employee morale and motivation. This year, you can’t afford not to recognize employees. Give it a try and let us know how it goes. You’ve got nothing to lose…and lots to gain!

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her daily recognition tips by following Baudville on Twitter at Twitter.com/Baudville.

Each year, Baudville celebrates its accomplishments with a Year End Party.  The theme of the party is always a surprise and isn’t revealed until the day of the party.  This year, the employees arrived at the party to discover that they had taken a walk back in time and were celebrating New Years Eve 1929 aboard the Orient Express.  They also found themselves in the middle of a complex murder mystery drama involving interesting characters and a snake.  As the plot thickened, a delightful dinner was served aboard the train.  Finally, the deception and motive was revealed.  One table of super sleuth Baudvillians successfully solved the mystery and was awarded a prize.

A large portion of the evening is spent recognizing the accomplishments of each department.   Special recognition goes to a few select individuals for submitting great product and process suggestions and perfect attendance.  Two employees who best exemplified Baudville’s core values in 2009 also received one of our most prestigious award the INSPIRE Award.

In this economy, many companies have decided to cut back on parties, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful event.  Planning the Year End Party is a true team effort and a great source of collaboration and creativity. Thanks to our cross-departmental SPIRIT Team, the evening ran smoothly and was enjoyed by all!

While year end parties are a popular setting to express employee appreciation, there are many ways to recognize accomplishments that do not require a special event.  We show appreciation year long at Baudville in many different ways utilizing pocket praise, marks of appreciation, award certificates, trophies, peer-to-peer recognition and more.  The management team loves the Recognition Binder, “You’re a Winner in my Book.” 

I love to hear how other companies recognize their employees.  I am always taking notes on how we can continue to improve and let our employees know that we really do appreciate them. Our Year End Party is one of our employees’ favorite events. What are some of your employees’ favorite ways to be recognized?

You can see more pictures from Baudville's Year End Party on Facebook!

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Cindy is the Human Resources Manager at Baudville and has over 14 years HR experience. In addition to her HR Generalist duties, she’s the center of positive mojo for the company and heads up many of our recognition initiatives, events and awards. In other words, she’s got it going on!