This past year at the 2015 SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition and WorldatWork Conference, we talked with more than 2,000 HR Managers about employee recognition, engagement, retention, and culture.

Research and experience tells us that the way your employees interact with one another has an enormous impact on company culture and retention. And, based on what we heard from the attendees, 59% of HR Managers reported positive employee-to-employee relationships. Of those (and we we’re particularly surprised) 40% have a peer-to-peer recognition program in place!

As the year is quickly coming to a close, you may be evaluating your recognition programs for the year ahead. What's working, what's not, and what needs a program refresh?

Many workplace core values include working together as a team to achieve a common goal. And if you're following recognition program best practices, you will want to align your programs with your organization's core values for the best business results. While you may not think of Employee of the Month as one of those programs that brings people together, we've got an idea to change things up a bit!

What if I told you that your Employee of the Month program could also serve as a high-performing team building tool? As you look to re-evaluate your current program, try this:

We’re just a mere 35 days away from Christmas! Whoa! While we all want to give Halloween and Thanksgiving their appropriate time in the spotlight, I imagine your year-end event planning is already making its way to the top off your to-do list.

If you're anything like me, nailing down a theme for the event is the hardest part; what's going to be fun, engaging, and fairly easy to pull off? Once you set the theme, filling in the details to flow with the event gets a little easier. So, what are the best themes for year-end recognition events or year-end holiday parties? I'll show you how Baudville's past events have come together in this Flashback Friday post and you can decide if one of these tried-and-true successful themes might work for your company's year-end party!

As you get ready for what's most likely your biggest corporate recognition event of the year, remember how important great, well-prepared award presentations are in making your event a success. A recognition moment gone wrong can not only ruin what's supposed to be a five-star moment for your employee, it can also bring the positive mojo of the event to a screeching halt!

I've gathered some of my favorite tips for your year-end event award giving, planning, and process in this Throwback Thursday post. And don't forget that Baudville offers free personalization and engraving on all of our award trophies. And, if you place and approve your order by 3pm EST, we'll engrave it and ship it the very same day!