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. 

Lapel pins are a traditional element of an employee recognition program. They’re often used to commemorate years of service, retirement, and major awards. In today’s technology driven world, it may come as a surprise that lapel pins are still a popular and desired form of recognition. 

Lapel pins remain an effective employee recognition award because the recipient has a lasting and displayable memento of the recognition moment. The lapel pin acts as a mini-trophy that the recipient and show off to co-workers, customers, and even family members. 

As we’ve discussed the past few weeks, gaining management buy-in for your recognition program is pivotal to its success. After all, it takes the support of management to grant you a budget, set the example for the organization, and keep recognition at the top of the priority list. 

Sometimes, the data and case studies aren’t persuasive enough for your organization’s head honchos. Another approach to gaining management buy-in for your program is giving them the recognition treatment. 

 Did you watch our Recognition TV webisode?  You can watch the complete recorded version with all my tips for getting management buy-in and support for your employee recognition program on Baudville.com or Baudville’s Facebook page. Several of my tips, ideas and best practices are below, but I recommend you watch the entire video (it’s only about 15 minutes!) to catch everything.  

Getting management buy-in and support for your employee recognition program is key to ensuring long term program success. Your management team not only influences how much is financially invested in your program, but they also influence how employees and other managers perceive the program. 

When it comes to getting management buy-in for your employee recognition program, you need to show them the numbers. Results, facts and data are the language of the top suite, so be prepared with resources from these top organizations.