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.

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! 

This week calendars are promoting Fun at Work Day; our calendar lists it on Thursday, January 28. Though some people may roll their eyes or consider office diversions like Fun at Work Day to be frivolous, having fun at work can actually be extremely profitable, as Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For prove.

At SAS, a privately owned software company at the top of Fortune’s list this year, an employee-friendly culture reigns supreme and fun isn’t hard to find. Employees watch intramural teams compete in volleyball and soccer during weekdays and M&Ms are readily available for staff (they go through 22.5 tons a year).

One employee from Wegmans Food Market, third on the list, is quoted by Fortune on how a fun atmosphere encourages him to work harder: “I just love it. No day is the same as the previous day. I'm usually here until 6 in the evenings and on Fridays I work until 8, or if it's really fun I stick around until 9. Sometimes I lose track of time.”

Fun at work can translate to lower employee stress levels, higher commitment, increased engagement and improved results. While Fortune’s 100 best are able to offer desirable employee perks and benefits, organizations of all shapes and sizes can create a fun work environment that employees will appreciate. Remember, the key to a successful fun work culture is consistency. Managers and company leadership need to encourage and embrace fun all year round if they want to impact corporate culture.

Bring fun to your work this week (and beyond) with these ideas from Baudville. Having some fun may take a little bit of time out of the typical work day, but it will be well worth it.

• Play board games at lunch.
• Host a ping pong tournament.
• Get creative juices flowing with a game of Pictionary or charades
• Build ice cream sundaes together.
• Make the traditional potluck more interesting by having employees guess who made which dish.
•  Host a caption contest. Take a picture of someone in the office, add a thought bubble and have employees fill in the bubble. Post the results and give everyone something to laugh about.
• Have an "Embarrassing Incident" contest and give a prize to the person who suffered the funniest cringe-worthy moment.
• Give employees a set of our Print and Post sayings. Encourage them to give the sayings to their peers and brainstorm their own.
• Host a department spirit day or week and celebrate all the great things about your team.
• Have a paper air plane throwing contest.
• Keep a stash of Everyday Certificates handy and give out “You’re the Bomb Diggity Awards” often.
• Do an old-school arts and craft project like paper maché or anything involving macaroni or play-doh.
• Give employees their own candy dish full with sweets.
• Hand out Pick Your Nose Party Cups and take pictures of your staff with their new noses.
• Give employees their own set of coloring books and crayons for stress relief.

Allison, one of the regular contributors to the blog, was the subject in this Fill-in-the-Thought-Bubble exercise.

What are some of your organization’s fun office ideas? What activity or event do employees ask for over and over again? Tell us about it! We’d like to try it out for ourselves!

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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.

January 7th was my one year anniversary with Baudville, and, as is the tradition, I got to go to lunch with my boss to celebrate. She asked me about some of my former jobs, and I had the embarrassing task of detailing my checkered past of repeated job hopping. I’m not sure, but I swear I heard concern in her voice when she asked once again, “…and how long were you at that job?”

Truth is, she has *nothing* to worry about, but with US job satisfaction at a 22-year low, many managers do have a reason to be concerned. And while it may not be as easy now as it was 5-10 years ago to switch jobs on a whim, it is easy for employees to just mentally check out of their jobs. And that’s what a lot of people do, causing both employee productivity and workplace morale to take a huge hit. In fact, according to a Gallup Organization survey, in the United States, disengaged employees cost the economy $300 billion a year.

Faced with this statistic, you might ask yourself: what can I do to? I don’t have the budget to give anyone a raise, reduce healthcare costs, or create new opportunities within my department.

Well, for the third consecutive year, Baudville has been declared one of the “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" in West Michigan; yet our company faces many of the same economic challenges as others.

So how do we do it?

We know that if we can’t spend more money, then our only choice is to make things more interesting and engaging. And if you’ve ever seen photos of some of our events, then you might think that interesting is just one word for it.

Considering that one of the satisfaction stats is that “fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting” this seems like a fairly good avenue to pursue.

So, a lot of what we do around here, when not diligently working, involves getting people together or involved in an activity. This regular interaction with each other helps break up our workdays and gets us talking, connecting, and relating. And because many of these activities are either low cost or no cost, a lack of budget is not a factor. For example:

Peer Recognition: Our internal “Shout Out” program allows employees to write a note of praise for a coworker and post it in a designated location for everyone to see. It is very low cost, and it inspires all staff to get involved in appreciating and recognizing one another. And it contributes to our job satisfaction because we know that our coworkers value the work that we do. In fact, it works so well for us, we decided to develop a few variations for our customers. You can read more here.
 
Impromptu Activities: From “just because” casual days (free!) to recruiting a group of staff to decorate the parking lot with sidewalk chalk (cheap!) to the occasional pizza lunch (moderate; but the camaraderie it instills is priceless!), these events do a great job of breaking up the monotony. And, they often make us look forward to coming to work, so we are definitely tuned in and not checked out.

Communication: I still remember my first day when someone passed me in the hallway and said, “Welcome to Meetingville!” Sure, there is such a thing as death by meeting, but I think we do a pretty good job of balancing that (despite that comment!). Meetings mean people are involved, from the top down. These are opportunities to share feedback, express ideas and opinions, brainstorm, commiserate, and stay informed. And, they only cost a little bit of well spent time.  

During tough times, when resources and opportunities are hard to come by, it’s easy for staff to become bored, disenchanted, and detached. But, with a little bit of Baudville-prescribed creativity it’s easy to shake things up and get people re-engaged.

So, take a minute to look around your workplace. Do people seem satisfied? If not, what will you do reverse the statistic?

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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!

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.

The holidays are an important time of year to express appreciation for friends, family and especially employees. It’s not too late to order thoughtful holiday employee recognition gifts for your entire team. And with employee morale, engagement and loyalty nearing rock bottom, managers can’t afford not to recognize employees this holiday season.

I’ve put together a small selection of holiday employee recognition gifts that have been so popular this year, customers are already submitting positive feedback on our website. You can view all holiday recognition gifts here, or visit their individual product pages.

Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to get your gifts. We have same-day shipping to ensure your recognition can happen in a timely manner!

Spinner Ornament – Customers like the personalization options on the ornament; you can add recipients’ names or a logo. It also arrives in a gift box, so it’s ready to give.

Character Pins – The Character Pin is a popular holiday employee recognition gift because of the themed message and collectable lapel pin. Managers can read the story out loud to the group and avoid the struggle for the right motivational words.

Travel Mug – Employees love to receive gifts that they can use everyday. A handy travel mug will serve as a daily reminder of your appreciation for everything they do.

The other day, I met with a couple gentlemen from the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, one of Baudville’s long time charitable partners. As we were talking, our conversation strayed from sponsorship opportunities to the recognition and appreciation solutions Baudville offers. The guys were in awe of the fun new products we had on display in our Board Room. They especially loved the Exclamations recognition theme and the funny lines on our Pocket Praise cards and gifts.

As we were talking about recognition, one of them shared a story about a friend’s current work situation; one that I fear is all too common in today’s workplaces. The friend’s organization is trying to do more with less (a common theme in business today), and he was finding more and more work piled on his desk. At the same time, the only communication he was receiving from management was “be glad you have a job right now.”

Can you imagine having that sentiment pounded into your head day in and day out, all the while struggling to keep up with your ever-increasing work load? Sounds motivating, right?

This young man has become so frustrated with the work environment that he’s been considering quitting – in this job market! This isn’t as uncommon as you may think. The Department of Labor has found that 64% of working Americans have left a job for lack of appreciation. That statistic has decreased during the recession, but many in the talent industry are predicting lots of turnover once the economy recovers. Employees are looking to make a change in part due to the way they were treated during the recession by their current employers.

Employers who act now can prevent their talent from walking away. Because cash is tight, employers are using non-financial strategies to improve employee morale, employee engagement and loyalty. Flexible schedules and telecommuting are popular, but employers should not lose sight of the value of appreciation. Thanking employees for their extra efforts and hard work this year will go a long ways.

During the remaining weeks of 2009, make it a priority to take time to thank employees. Don’t worry, you can never give too much praise and appreciation! Your sincere, specific recognition of their efforts will let employees know that you value their contributions both now and in the future.

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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.

The holidays are approaching, and everyone agrees that employee morale has experienced a turn for the worse. Corporations are expected to have a record low number of employee holiday parties. Give your staff a boost with an inspiring and optimistic theme for the year end.

In this blog entry, I’m throwing the spotlight on one of our latest additions to our Recognition Theme library, New Beginnings.

We designed New Beginnings especially for the 2009 corporate climate. The year has been especially challenging for companies and employees who have struggled with layoffs, budget cuts and just plain hard times. The soothing color palette and optimistic story motivates your team for the next year and hints at better things to come.

So how do you use New Beginnings in your organization? Give your employees a small token of your appreciation for the year by selecting a personal gift for the entire team. You can also engrave the story on a number of products and personalize it for your recipients.

Most importantly, though, your employees want to hear from you. Add a holiday greeting card to your gift and take the time to write a personal note inside of each one. Let your employees know what it is you appreciate about them. This is the greatest gift you can give this year.

Will New Beginnings be your theme for the end of the year? Tell us how you’re using it! Email us at recognition@baudville.com.

The New Beginnings Story
Freshly fallen snow revives the senses, Inspiring new ideas. Each tiny flake glistens with optimism and the promise of new beginnings. ‘Tis the season for possibilities.

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Cori is a Certified Recognition Professional at Baudville and a member of the Millennial generation. Follow her recognition tips at Twitter.com/Baudville.

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.

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.