Tag: employee recognition

November: Autumn, Turkeys, and Employee Recognition

November 1, 2013 by

thankfulness and employee recognitionNovember has always been one of my favorite months. The trees are changing colors, the air is cool, and turkey…lots of turkey.  With November comes my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! I love spending time with family and friends, eating all different kinds of food, but most importantly the message of the holiday: thankfulness.

A popular practice during the month of November is the “30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge” using personal social media like Facebook and Twitter.  To participate, simply post something you are thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving.  Posts can be serious or funny.  For example, you can express thanks for the Starbucks coffee you had this morning, your family, your employees, your pet hamster, the turkey baking in the oven…the list goes on.

Following that same thought, what about your employees?  My challenge to you is to find some way to express your thankfulness for each one of them.  Let your employees know that you don’t just appreciate the work they do, but that you are genuinely thankful for them. Thankful means: “glad that something has happened or not happened, that something or someone exists, etc.”  In other words, you appreciate the hard work the employee puts into the job, and you are thankful that he/she is there, working at your company.

Employee recognition, years of service, and safety incentive programs are valuable and effective ways to improve performance, recognize career milestones, and keep your employees safe.  They also provide ways to express your thankfulness for them during special times  — “Thank you for working with us…We are glad you are here.”

If you currently have an employee recognition program, think of creative ways for employees to earn more points this month (turkey drawing contest, anyone?). Create a ‘Thank You Award’ for an employee that goes above and beyond for the month of November. Write a thank you note to each employee and be specific. Want to go all out for the ’30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge’? Give employees a way to earn points or rewards for all 30 days.

Be creative and be thankful!

If you don’t have an employee recognition, years of service, or safety incentive program, check out these best practices and contact us to find out more.

Surveys – Important Tool in your Employee Recognition Toolbox

October 29, 2013 by

While all employees have opinions and ideas it is often difficult to gain feedback from them about such topics as new product introductions, employee satisfaction, general company policies and procedures, and more.  Employee surveys can be a valuable tool, but as Reuven Gorsht points out in this recent Forbes post, the average employee survey response… Read more »

Community Service and Employee Recognition

October 28, 2013 by

Service projects benefit the community but they can also be an important part of your employee recognition program.  Planned projects help to build camaraderie, reinforce corporate culture, and provide employees with a structured way to contribute their time and talents. Coordinating a community service event may seem like a daunting task, but with careful planning… Read more »

Employee Recognition: Not a Quest but a Journey

October 24, 2013 by

My last post – Recognition Matters Because People are Alike All Over – discussed some of the benefits of meaningful employee recognition and offered a few points for consideration.  Implementing an employee recognition program is like taking a journey.  Successfully navigating the “Path of Recognition” requires up-front planning (program design), the proper vehicle (program platform… Read more »

Hiring Your Weaknesses – Relevant to Employee Recognition and Incentive Program Success

October 21, 2013 by

I watched an interview recently of an entrepreneur who started a business based on a very creative and innovative idea, and now, several years later, she is a multi-billionaire.   She talked in the interview about her strengths being creativity and design, as well as never being afraid to try, even if failure was the end… Read more »

Performance Appraisals – Key to Employee Recognition and Incentive Program Success

October 16, 2013 by

It’s that time of year when many of our clients evaluate the employee recognition, customer incentive and employee safety incentive programs that they sponsor with an eye toward their continuation and/or expansion in the upcoming year. Curtailment and abandonment are also options, but let’s not dwell on those possibilities! In all seriousness, whether the news is… Read more »