The holiday shopping season is now officially underway. Are you a super shopper or does your gift list intimidate you?

Confession time:  I am not a natural gift giver. This weakness of mine is most obvious during the holiday season. It takes a lot of effort to come up with appreciation gift ideas for all my friends and family members. My process usually involves starting a Google Drive document in July and tracking each and every crazy gift idea that comes to mind. I keep my eyes open for unique gifts that would impress my friends and family. Sometimes, I’m even successful!

Unique and creative gift ideas are tough for a lot of people. This is especially true during the holiday season when you want to show appreciation to so many. Who’s on your list this year? A teacher, caregiver, mail or newspaper carrier, boss, neighbor, daycare provider, teammate, stylist, doctor, or employee?  

Our Product Development Team understands the challenge of thinking up appreciation gift ideas. They put their creative minds together and developed more than 20 holiday-specific gifts, expanded to our personalized gifts selection, and updated our Gift Finder to make your shopping experience easier.

When we created our Holiday Gift Collection, we tried to capture the primary sentiments you express during the holidays: appreciation, gratitude, and thanks. Select a gift your recipient can use, like our festive Twist Top Tumblers, for a regular reminder of your appreciation. Or present a Spinner Ornament for a gift that will be cherished year after year.

Personalized gifts are memorable and meaningful gifts during the holiday season. Add the recipient’s name and the date to one of our high-quality gifts and wow everyone on your team.

Still need some help with your shopping? Use our Gift Finder to discover the perfect gift for your occasion and budget. If you’re looking for more appreciation gift ideas, visit the Recognition Resource Center where we’ve compiled lots of articles on Employee Gift Ideas.

What are your holiday shopping tips or favorite appreciation gift ideas? Share them here!

Are you ready for turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie? Mmmmm, I know I am! In my book, Thanksgiving is one of the best food holidays. What’s not to love about all that glorious food?!
More importantly, Thanksgiving is a reminder of the value of saying “thank you.” In our busy lives, we often forget to thank a coworker who did something extra that made our lives a little easier.

I’m sure you’ve all had an experience where you wanted to thank someone but simply ran out of time. It may have been a day when you felt like you were running at a sprint the minute you got into the office. On days like that, you know you can’t make it to the finish line without help from your teammates. The problem is you’re so exhausted when you stop running that you forget to send a quick note of thanks.

If you follow our blog, you know that we’re in the middle of a campaign to raise funds and awareness for men’s health. Get all the background information on Movember in Brad’s blog post and read Allison’s profile on a couple Baudvillans who are involved.

Raising money for a cause is always a feel-good event, and the benefits to your organization go beyond the charitable contribution.

One of the most important critical factors to retaining staff and maintaining employee engagement is employee sentiment that they have a purpose. In fact, Inc.com put having a purpose number one on their list of ten things employees want. When you offer employees social responsibility opportunities, you help them achieve a greater sense of purpose. You also reduce their stress and distraction by doing all the coordination for them. In short, you meet employees’ needs for social responsibility without losing any productivity. It's a win-win. 

It’s also FUN.

During the month of November, our team is committing to the very important and serious issue of men’s health. We’re simply doing it in a light-hearted manner. After all, what’s not funny about a group of grown men growing mustaches together? 

Many organizations have annual award ceremonies in the fourth quarter to celebrate outstanding performances and team accomplishments. However, it’s common for annual events to become a little tired year after year. To keep things fresh and exciting, you need to introduce new elements to your event. One way you can enhance the award experience is by changing your recognition award. 

This year we set an ambitious goal to bring you an even larger selection of new trophies and awards for your year end award ceremonies. You can now shop 75 new trophies and awards in our trophy collection, many of which are exclusive Baudville designs! For a little guidance on adding extra “oomph” to this year’s award ceremony, we’ve put together five ways you can freshen up your annual award ceremony with new Baudville trophies. 

The fourth quarter is the most common time of year for award ceremonies. Companies are completing their fiscal year, individuals are wrapping up projects, and teams are evaluating goals. When all the analyses and evaluations are done, it will be time to recognize outstanding performers and performances from the year.

When you honor an individual at a public award ceremony, you have a great opportunity to impact their motivation, dedication, and engagement. You can also inspire everyone in attendance! Careful planning of your awards event will make sure your recognition hits the mark.

We’ve created many resources to help you to create a memorable awards event. Start with our highlighted content below then browse through our collection of Award Ceremony information  in the Recognition Resource Center.
 
Award Presentation Guide – Say all the right things during your award presentation when you practice with this helpful guide. It walks you through the key elements of an award presentation so you know what you want to say ahead of the event.

Award Presentation Ideas  Webisodes – Baudville recognition experts share valuable advice and tips for award presentations. These short videos are packed with ideas that will make your awards more memorable.

Trophy Videos – We have over 70 new trophies available for this year’s award season. To get the best feel for these new awards, watch our products videos. They are the best way to understand the size of the award and its different features.

Free Recognition eBooks – Get ideas to make your awards sparkle and make a grand impression on both your recipients and your guests. Winning Ways to Recognize Your Stars ebook   includes handy hints to make your recognition more effective. If you’re looking for ideas on how to celebrate your employees’ accomplishments, read the Milestones chapter from the Team Up! eBook. Both of these should provide some inspiration for your next awards event!

Award Ceremony Newsletters – We’ve carefully selected a few of our Recognition at Work newsletters from the archive that are all about award ceremonies. Learn more about formal awards, tips for recognizing with award certificates, and more.

Gift Finder – Don’t let the title fool you! Our popular tool can help you find a trophy that will fit your budget and occasion. Begin by selecting the “Award Trophies” product category then continue to refine the results by price, occasion, and theme until you find the award that’s just right for your event.

Formal awards and award ceremonies are part of an effective recognition strategy. If you take the event seriously and plan carefully, your employees will feel appreciated and motivated for another year! For even more resources, tips, and ideas, visit our Recognition Resource Center. 

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Cori is Baudville's in-house Recognitionista (she's officially a Certified Recognition Professional, too)  and a member of the Millennial generation. Get her employee recognition tips and special discounts by liking Baudville on Facebook.