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.