Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from John.
He says: “We give a trophy that moves from desk to desk once per month to recognize an employee.  The trophy is higher than the cubicle so that everyone can see where it is!”

Share your own “WOW Wednesday” tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on Terryberry’s Facebook Page or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

Hint: These work for everyone…Your spouse/child/parent/friend will feel 10 feet tall when you apply these techniques at home, too.

1.  Affirming Words – Write a note.  Send a text.  Call just to say thanks.  Be specific about what he or she did to earn your appreciation.

2. Your Time – Take him or her to lunch.  Invite them to an important meeting.  Attend a seminar together.  Request their input on an important project you are working on.  Face time is an increasingly rare and precious gift these days.

3. Pat on the Back handshake/high five/fist bump –   Physical touch (in an appropriate context, of course) is a meaningful sign of affirmation and respect in most cultures.

4.  Tangible Award- give something tangible as a symbol of your appreciation.  The monetary value of an appreciation gift  should be relative to the contribution it represents.

5.   Personal Support –  invest in people on a personal level.  Learn about what’s important to them.  Take an interest in their endeavors, challenges, and successes.    Look for ways to support them and help them grow.   Demonstrate that their success is important to you and that you believe in their abilities.

Master these 5 techniques with your employees (or anyone else who is important to you) and you will  foster healthy and productive relationships.

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Candice.

She says: “We have a Gold Star program where employees can recognize fellow colleagues and post them on the office door or cubicle entrance of the Star employee.  At our quarterly all-staff meetings we collect all of the stars, tally them up, and present the total numbers and who received them.”

Share your own “WOW Wednesday” tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on Terryberry’s Facebook Page or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

Kyle Lagunas – HR Analyst at Software Advice – recently published an article, “Creative Benefits to Engage, Motivate, and Retain,” which explores creative employee benefits ideas that go beyond status quo to help businesses compete in the effort to attract and retain key talent.

Having the best benefits will go along way to entice desirable employees.  But once you have them in your payroll, how do successful leaders keep those employees engaged and on-board over the long term?  Employee Recognition is an effective (and often overlooked) strategy that can pay off big-time in reducing presenteesim and unwanted turnover.

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Ann.
She says: “We developed online certificates of appreciation. Employees or managers can personalize them, download and print and give them to whomever they want. We also have a “Commissioner’s Choice Award” that has no criteria other than the discretion of the Commissioner of our state organization. She chooses recipients for really stand-out performances.”

Share your own “WOW Wednesday” tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on Terryberry’s Facebook Page or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

Collegiate jewelry for the University of Michigan and Michigan State is ready for inspection at Terryberry.

Dave Schowalter’s Collegiate Bead Company, of Royal Oak, sells sterling silver charm bracelet beads with the licensed logos of more than 200 universities and sororities, worn on popular Pandora or Chamilia style bracelets. This innovative company expects to double their sales this year do in part to their partnership withTerryberry and their ability to produce the metal molds for mass production.

Collegiate Bead Company has 11 employees in Royal Oak and it’s success has propelled the addition of six workers so far at Terryberry.

Read more about this great story here.

Today, I am celebrating my 7th anniversary as a Terryberry employee (I think that’s the “Window-office” anniversary).  In honor of all the others out there celebrating service milestones today, I wanted to share Mike Byam’s recent video on WOW Service Awards.

For employees, service anniversaries are a chance to reflect on career highlights, lessons learned, and goals for the future. For companies, employee service anniversaries are an opportunity to encourage, recognize, and appreciate a worker for what he or she has contributed over the course of the year.

In Terryberry’s company culture, we have a tradition for coworkers to give each other a little appreciation on their service milestones (even when it’s not one of the “Big Ones” like the 10 or 15  year mark)  So today I’ve received notes, cards, and calls from my comrades.  And it’s made my day.

Terryberry’s business is helping other organizations do employee recognition right, so the pressure is on us when it comes to how we celebrate employee recongition within our own walls. Want to know more about how we do it for our own employees? Contact us, we’d be glad to tell you all about it.

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Marilyn.
She says: “We take the opportunity to thank each employee individually for their contribution when we give them their paychecks every week. We acknowledge a special project or situation they have encountered so they know we are aware of their achievements.”

Share your own “WOW Wednesday” tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on Terryberry’s Facebook Page or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!

Are you looking for recognition ideas? Enhance your employee recognition program with little or no additional charge. Terryberry offers a number of cost-effective recognition solutions that meet the growing demands your business faces today.

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Julie.
She says: “At our recent all company meeting our leaders recognized one person from their departments who had “Stepped Up” over the last year. Each person selected was asked to the front of the room and their VP talked about what they had done to go above and beyond. The praise ran the gamut from increasing sales in turbulent times to streamlining processes to providing excellent customer service. We are going green and the award was a reusable water bottle to keep at their desks. Economical, symbolic, and the public recognition was well received even by the most shy candidate.”

Share your own “WOW Wednesday” tip or story. Leave a comment here or post on Terryberry’s Facebook Page or Twitter using hashtag #WOWWED. Make it a WOW day!