Our friend Ben Eubanks over at UpstartHR.com recently asked for contributions to an ebook about employee engagement. Several knowledgeable HR professionals answered his call, and the result is a comprehensive ebook with great tips, stories, and advice about employee engagement. Yours truly even made the book! Go over to UpstartHR.com to download the ebook for free. 

Retirement and healthcare benefits have dominated the discussion on total rewards lately as public employee benefits have been scrutinized. But benefits aren’t the only component of a total rewards program that is significantly impacting the workforce right now. 

Employee engagement surveys have revealed that employees don’t feel appreciated in their current roles. In fact, as many as two thirds of employees are actively looking for a new position right now, and one of the primary contributors to the discontent is a lack of appreciation. More than half of respondents in an Aon Hewitt survey said being appreciated would motivate them to stay at their organization. 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Each year, Valentine’s Day marks the beginning of Random Acts of Kindness Week. Today through February 20th, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation will present an Extreme Kindness Challenge for you to complete. A few Baudvillians are planning on taking part in the challenge, and we hope you will, too! 

Employee Appreciation Day is an annual event, which means you are ALWAYS looking for new ideas to make this recognition celebration fun and memorable. We’ve put together a list of our favorite Employee Appreciation Day Ideas to help fuel your creativity for 2011. 

If you’re a recognition guru or the Director of Positive Mojo at your organization, you probably celebrate your employees on Employee Appreciation Day. Employee Appreciation Day is always celebrated on the first Friday in March. This year, that falls on March 4, 2011.  

All this month, we’ll be sharing Employee Appreciation Day ideas to help you plan an impactful appreciation event. Check back each week or sign up for email updates (in the navigation on the right) to have our ideas delivered right to your inbox.