I have a knack for making up one-liners. I call them “zingers.” Growing up on a family farm and then professionally farming for over a decade, I learned that farmers have their own language. Many of my zingers originate from this time in my life. Some of these little taglines are fun and light while others have a bite to them.
There’s nothing more exciting than new things. And we have something new that we’re really excited about: a state-of-the-art 3D machine!
Why do we love this machine so much? Because we can give you more! We can produce more awards at once and work on more orders at one time – providing you with more crystal awesomeness!
When you were a kid and thought of getting older, odds are you thought that you’d have life “together” by twenty-five. Together like, house, car, career, and love. After all, 25 years is a quarter of a century. But when I was 25 years old, I was newly married and working hard on our family farm. My first child was on her way. People said, “You are in the best part of your life.” But on a daily basis, it just felt like a lot of decisions and hard work. Nothing more. What I didn’t realize was that this part of life was just the tip of the iceberg. Just the first glimpse of what would become my life story from beginning to end. Making all those important decisions and working so hard was actually the “best part of life.”
We’ve been sharing employee engagement tips and tricks from many different experts, leaving you to wonder, “Where did they learn all of this?!” Chuck shared information about a few of the experts he’s consulted in the Our Story section, and here’s a list of the rest!
What do you think of when you hear the words “employee awards?” Chances are, every person who hears these words thinks of something different and creates their own picture of the perfect employee award. But choosing an award is easy!
Ask yourself these questions:
Without customers, business doesn’t exist. Without your customers, your business doesn’t exist.
Finding, maintaining, and cultivating a customer relationship is a lot like planting a tree. You plant a seed, and it starts out small. Slowly over time, it will grow into a lovely tree that provides shade.
Nourishing the seed so that it can grow takes work. It takes dedication, attention, and lots of time. Just like cultivating a quality customer relationship. These folks are not run-of-the-mill. They are your A+, platinum-level, gold-plated customers.
When was the last time you reminded your top customers that you exist? When was the last time you said: “thank you”?
As a business leader, you’re busy. You have a million things to do, but you also need to recognize your employees for their hard work. So what occasions can you recognize in an instant?
Keep in mind that staff appreciation doesn’t have to be complicated or formal. Have fun with it! Here are nine occasions that you can recognize:
In my previous posts, I’ve shared a treasure trove of secrets that the experts won’t tell you, and I have one last one for you. You’re building this recognition culture at your company because you want your employees to be engaged, right? An engaged employee is a happy employee, and a happy employee makes your business run smoothly.
Engagement experts and researchers know that having engagement and recognition opportunities at work will help companies provide better service and make more money. They know this because it is common sense. But sometimes business owners need more than common sense alone to believe it. So the experts have linked statistics to engagement in order to give it a return on investment.
Lots of time. Great managers. No popularity contests. These are secrets I’ve already busted open for you. But as you’re finding out, those aren’t the only secrets the experts don’t talk about. There’s more.
I found out the hard way that a lack of prestige can ruin your recognition program. If your employees don’t see and feel the benefits of becoming an award winner, your program is a big waste.
At Crystal D, our most prestigious recognition program is our Value Champions. This is a multi-faceted peer-to-peer program where our employees nominate each other for exemplifying a company value. One winner for each value is honored on WOW Day and given an award. They hold the title of Value Champion for the next twelve months until the next WOW Day.
I believed it was a program that employees would want to strive to be a part of. But I learned that not everyone saw the prestige of being an award winner as a motivator for being part of the program. One of our most committed employees refused to participate.
The dark side of recognition continues with this next secret, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Time and managers make or break your culture-building, but they aren’t the only thing that makes your culture-building process stop. The experts don’t talk about popularity contests. Your employees are nominating their coworkers, but are they nominating for the right reasons? You need to vet your nominations and take away any personal bias so all employees have a fair shot at winning an award.