Terryberry Employee Recognition Blog

April 18, 2012
by Kelsey Meek
1 Comment

Incorporate a Custom Award When Recognizing Your Employees

It’s WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Sandie.
She says: “We have quarterly programs to recognize everyone that will range from lunch to a cappuccino cart serving employees. We always try to incorporate a custom award. We’ve done coolers for the lunches, travel mugs on the coffee day.”

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!

Incorporate a Branded Award When Recognizing Your Employees

April 17, 2012
by Kelsey Meek
1 Comment

Valued Employees Feel More Engaged, Satisfied and Motivated

According to a recent article, APA Survey Finds Feeling Valued at Work Linked to Well-Being and Performance posted on marketwatch.com, overall, more than one in five (21 percent) working Americans said they do not feel valued by their current employers. The survey also points out, that employees who feel valued are more likely to report higher levels of engagement, satisfaction and motivation, compared to those who do not feel valued by their employers.

	Employees who feel valued at work	Employees who feel undervalued
Motivated to do their best work	93%	33%
Feel engaged	88%	38%
Intend to look for a new job	21%	50%

A variety of factors were linked to feeling undervalued at work:

Having fewer opportunities for involvement in decision making (24 percent vs. 84 percent)
Being less satisfied with the potential for growth and advancement (9 percent vs. 70 percent)
Having fewer opportunities to use flexible work arrangements (20 percent vs. 59 percent)
Being less likely to say they are receiving adequate monetary compensation (18 percent vs. 69 percent) and non-monetary rewards (16 percent vs. 65 percent).

This survey was conducted between January 12 and 19, 2012 on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA) by Harris Interactive.

April 12, 2012
by Kelsey Meek
1 Comment

Forbes on How to Boost Employee Engagement With Two Simple Words

Forbes Contributor, Victor Lipman, brings up a great point in his article “How to Boost Employee Engagement With Two Simple Words,” that while creative recognition ideas and rewards are great to use, “nothing is more effective than a sincere thank you for a job well done.”

Victor Lipman offers up two observations he has made after decades of management, as well as a brief story about his own simple “Thank you” he received:

1) “Recognition (or lack thereof) is always a key element of employee engagement.

2) In a business environment where people are extraordinarily busy and routinely asked to do more with less, all too often successful tasks and projects are completed without recognition for those involved.

The pace is frantic so when one job is done, it’s on to the next. Taking the exceptionally small amount of time it requires – by email, vmail, text, tweet, FaceBook, phone… or best yet (a novel idea) in person – to stop what you’re doing and say a simple thank you is one of the easiest, cheapest and best investments an executive can make.

Appreciation can be a difference maker, just as silence can. A brief story from my own career…

Back in another millennium I once wrote a speech for a chief operating officer addressing a major sales conference. The COO, a man of around 60, had made a habit of running three miles a day every day, literally never missing a day for over 700 days, even in the coldest months of a New England winter. The speech focused on his running and what it meant to him, but more importantly it was a metaphor for the day-in, day-out discipline that a top salesperson needs, and ultimately the satisfaction derived from such focused efforts. It was a personal, heartfelt message.

I didn’t attend the conference, which was thousands of miles away, but the day after it ended I received at my home a large fruit basket. With it was a short note from the COO telling me simply how he appreciated my help with the speech and how well it had been received.

That was many years ago. I never forgot the gesture, and you can be sure it forever shaped my opinion of the man and the lengths I would go to do my utmost best for him.”

April 11, 2012
by Kelsey Meek
0 comments

Compliment an Employee on Their Job Well Done

It’s WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Susan.

She says: “Our successful Recognition Program is the Shout-out board. External and internal clients would be able to email a compliment to an employee and they would print out the compliment and stick it on the outside of their cube. Then, when someone from another team walks by and sees the compliment, they shout-out a great job or well done!”

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!

April 4, 2012
by Kelsey Meek
0 comments

Make Rewards Personal, Win Over Family and Be Unpredictable

It’s WOW Wednesday! HR leaders, execs, and managers: How do you WOW the people who go above and beyond for you in your business? Or, how have you been WOWed?

Today’s WOW Wednesday comes from Michael Alter.
He says: “I recently hosted SurePayroll’s version of the People’s Choice Awards, the SureChoice Awards. I gave employees titles like Best Utility Player, MVP, and my favorite, Best New Mistake. I dressed up in a tux and handed out medals, plaques, cash, and popcorn. We made a big event out of it.”

The article, “Now’s a Good Time to Reward Employees,” written by Michael Alter offers up some great ideas to keep in mind when it comes to rewarding and recognizing your employees.

Alter offers an important guideline to keep in mind when thinking of the best ways to show your employees how much they matter:

“Make rewards personalized and meaningful.

Cash is nice, but it may not have as lasting an effect as you would think. An award an employee can hang on his desk, an iPad he can take home, tickets to see his favorite sports team — these are gifts that carry over, and provide a lasting impression of what your company stands for.

Whenever possible, win over the family.

Whether a company picnic or a dinner party, some extra vacation days, or even a free family wellness checkup at work, you have to remember that each one of your employees is connected to a whole network of friends and family outside the office. Let them know the overall well-being of all of them is important to you.

Be unpredictable.

It’s great to reward your employees because they’ve gone above and beyond their normal duties, but you don’t want them to go above and beyond just because they think there’s a reward in it for them. Give out recognition when employees are least expecting it, and they’ll find it all that much more gratifying.

The extended benefit of surprising hard workers and dependable team members with rewards is that it can raise the morale of your whole staff. It shows you’re paying attention to those who are really trying to create a successful and vibrant workplace for everyone, not just for their own gain.”

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!