The other night I was getting a pedicure at the local cosmetology institute and having a conversation with my assigned student about “pursuing your dream.” She told me that her husband is currently living his dream as a guitarist in a rock band, and that she is working full time during the day and taking cosmetology classes at night to follow her own aspirations. I told her that I, too, had finally landed my dream job—as a copywriter for Baudville.

I love explaining to people what Baudville does. If they haven’t experienced recognition in their jobs, they are often somewhat mystified. It’s true, that while we do have a huge customer base, there are still many companies that do not practice any form of employee recognition. In fact, the past two companies I worked for did not (note: I’m not working there anymore!).

Our conversation led to her day job, which she explained once had a very extravagant year-end celebration, but followed the next year with a much more modest version. The year after that, they eliminated the party altogether and made a small donation to a charity instead. We both agreed that the charitable donation was a nice gesture, but because of past events, it was a bit de-motivating to the employees.

At this point, I couldn’t stop myself from making my Baudville pitch. It went something like this:

You know, if your company practiced employee recognition, especially day-to-day recognition, then big year-end celebrations—or lack thereof during tight economic times—wouldn’t be the centerpiece of employee motivation. Giving genuine expressions of appreciation at regular intervals is a proven way to encourage and, more importantly, retain key staff (remember those other companies I worked for?). Big celebrations become less important, and less likely to be missed if budget constraints put the kibosh on them.

I love it when a conversation plays right into my hands.

I think we both learned something really important that night; plus my toes look fabulous!