The Oscars were Sunday night, and we all recognize that gold statuette as a sign of prestige and achievement in the entertainment industry. In honor of the Oscars, I thought it would be fun to share little-known facts about that famous golden guy and other popular award trophies.

At Baudville, we’re fortunate enough to be hiring right now, which means we have all kinds of new faces walking our hallways. Whenever we have new employees on board, we always take a few minutes at our all-staff meetings to introduce them to everyone. There’s a fair amount of hoopla at these meetings, and I think a lot of our newbies leave them with their hair blown back a little. (I still remember my first one!) But, we only have these meetings periodically, so sometimes new team members can be here for weeks or even a few months before they get that big shebang welcome.

This got me wondering… about our new hires’ impressions of us and also about what we, as a company or as individuals, do to make people feel welcome here on a day-to-day basis. So, I asked them!

Love at the office? Under normal circumstances, this is probably not recommended. But the kind of love I’m talking about is mutual respect, admiration, and appreciation for the people we work with—and I’ve sure seen a lot of it around the ‘ville lately!

Like when I walk past our lunchroom and see the tables filled with people from all departments breaking bread together. Or pause at the Shout Out Wall to read all the sincere accolades Baudvillians are giving their peers. Or when I see people get truly enthusiastic when they give thanks and compliments to their co-workers.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and the best Valentine’s Day includes a small amount of planning and preparation. There’s nothing worse than waiting until Valentine’s Day and finding that all the restaurants are booked and every florist has sold out of flowers. 

Although you don’t have to take your team out to dinner on Valentine’s Day, celebrating the holiday can be a great opportunity for fun and team building. Whether it’s bringing in a plate of cookies (find lots of great holiday recipes on our Pinterest page!) or one of our free Valentine's Day downloads, February 14th is a lovely day to make your team feel appreciated.

Employee Appreciation Day is March 2, 2012, so you have one month to plan a celebration for your team. If you’re looking for theme ideas, register for our upcoming Recognition TV webisode. Lindsay, Baudville Product Manager, will share her favorite Employee Appreciation Day themes in a video broadcast on Wednesday, February 15. She’ll probably share her picks for Employee Appreciation Day gifts this year, too. Don’t miss it!

Employee Appreciation Day is all about your employees. Celebrating the value they bring to your organization as individuals is a great way to increase employee engagement, commitment, and motivation.