Happy New Year friends!! We are already off to a great start here at Baudville, launching over 250 new products to help you with your employee recognition initiatives! We are so looking forward to knocking your socks off this year with products and ideas to help you shine at your workplace.
As Falon mentioned in her post yesterday, Top 2 Ways to Celebrate Your Employees in 2014, birthdays and anniversaries should be a shoe-in for recognition at any organization. But then, adding in a few fun holidays doesn't hurt either, right?
So, that brings us to Valentine's Day...which as you know is less than a month away! We all love to be loved or at least thought of on this special day, if it's at home or the office (or both, come on, let's be honest, we want it to be both).
Over the holidays, I tried a couple of new cookie recipes, and I have to say they were both winners. I love it when a new recipe is awesome, don't you? I pinned them both to the Kimberly's Kitchen Pinterest board, so make sure to check it out. My ultimate favorite was the Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookie from Parent Pretty. WHOA! I had given a few of these cookies to one of my girlfriends and she made them at home twice already. Oh, so good.
They are the perfect sentiment for this upcoming Valentine's Day, so make some for your team or family and they will definitely feel loved. Also, we have a great free download for Valentine's Day that you can print, cut out and attach fun little sentiments around desks, cubes or offices!
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Kimberly is the Baudville Website Manager and star of our online product videos. She applies her knowledge of the web to create the ultimate online experience for Baudville customers.
If you only celebrate one employee recognition holiday this year, hands down it should be Employee Appreciation Day! It occurs yearly on the first Friday in March, and this year it's March 7th.
Why is Employee Appreciation Day so important? Well, if you're in business, there's a pretty good chance that you have employees. If you have employees, they are likely keeping your business running. If your business is running well, then you have reason to celebrate. And it's pretty much a no-brainer that what you should celebrate is the people who have made it all happen. Right? Right!
It will be here before you know it, so it's time to start planning today! A successful Employee Appreciation Day has these three elements:
Activities. These don't have to be all-day activities; after all, you still need to keep that business running! But, if you plan for a few throughout the day, you'll make your Employee Appreciation Day fun and memorable without being too disruptive to your regular flow. Need ideas? Check out our free Fun at Work eBook for inspiration!
Edibles. We all need to eat, so why not plan a catered lunch for your team? It can be as simple as a boxed lunch from a favorite local deli or more elaborate, like a full buffet with all the fixins. Or, if you want to really knock their socks off, hire a food truck to park in your lot and let your employees get their lunch to order! At Baudville, when "What the Truck" pulls up to our loading dock, we know we're in for an extra-special treat.
Appreciation. The most important part of Employee Appreciation Day is right in the title. Take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks to your team, with a meaningful gift and a sincere note. Choose our new Positively Awesome Theme, then fill a Tote Bag with a Value Tumbler and Goofy Guy Note Cube—all lasting gifts they'll use every day. Don't forget to write a personal note to each individual that expresses your appreciation for all they do throughout the year.
That's all you need to pull off a "Wow, that was awesome!" Employee Appreciation Day. Sound like a plan, but need help planning? We have a whole team of super-friendly (plus helpful and knowledgeable) recognition specialists who are just a call or chat away—just holler!
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Allison is a self-proclaimed Copywriting Diva and has the certificate to prove it! She's been writing for Baudville for five years and has worked in a variety of business settings for 20 years. Before becoming a professional writer 13 years ago, Allison worked as a department manager where she used Baudville products to motivate her team. She's what we call a true believer!
One of my most favorite things about the holiday time is COOKIES. Every year, since I was a little girl, my mother and I would make holiday-shaped sugar cookies and frost and decorate them together. We always had the rule that every cookie had to be different, which made it extra-fun coming up with new decorating combinations!
To this day, we still come together every holiday season to make cookies. And now my two boys join in and they have so much fun together making messes and memories. We even invite one of my son’s friends over so he can bring cookies home to his family.
Homemade treats are a great holiday gift option for co-worker gifts, boss gifts, teacher gifts, and for anyone on your list that you just want to give a little gift of thanks. I always like to grab the cute little treat boxes or bags from my local store and wrap them up for easy gift giving!
What are your family or office traditions that you look forward to every year?
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Kimberly is the Baudville Website Manager and star of our online product videos. She applies her knowledge of the web to create the ultimate online experience for Baudville customers.
Do you feel like you've been shelling out your credit card a lot lately? Is your holiday budget dwindling by the day? Have no fear! Our top 4 FREE holiday downloads are here to save the holiDAY! All you need is some paper, a color printer, and some scissors! Ready, set, ho ho ho!
While it may have been a moment of sheer humiliation, now it's something that you and your co-workers are able to laugh about and even share with new team members. It helps build those essential work connections and friendships that are building blocks to having fun at work!
I have to say that I've had my fair share of them, and they always seem to come up in conversation, even years later.
Oh, remember when Kim...
Wore that skirt one day and proceeded to walk from the bathroom to her desk (which is not just down the hall, by the way), with the back tucked in to her underwear?!
Yeah, that was me.
I got back to my desk and sat down, not even feeling any noticeable difference. Come on Kim.
So, a few minutes later, a guy that I work with came over and whispered, "Your skirt is tucked into your underwear." HORRIFIED. RED FACE. SWEATY.
Now, at the time, this guy and I were not close work buddies. But, over the past several years, we've definitely formed a friendship and a mutual trust. And, we always have a great story to laugh about together and with others.
Embrace those embarrassing moments, build friendships, and have fun!
Share your embarrassing moment with us on Facebook, we'd love to hear about it.
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Kimberly is the Baudville Website Manager and star of our online product videos. She applies her knowledge of the web to create the ultimate online experience for Baudville customers.
