Special Holidays Highlight Employee Appreciation

Do you know what’s special about the first week in March? It boasts two recognition holidays:

Last year I blogged about whether or not companies should participate in celebrating Employee Appreciation Day. The feedback I got via comments and emails is that effective employee recognition should be a year-round occurrence, not just a once-a-year deal.

Recognizing and affirming employee value is critical to creating and sustaining employee engagement. Especially in these challenging times when even the folks who are usually engaged are becoming increasingly worn out by economic and workplace pressures. An “attitude of gratitude” for just being employed these days won’t last once the job market improves.

Sincere acknowledgement and appreciation of your staff, applied regularly, goes a long way in keeping them engaged. And you don’t have to struggle on how to do this, thanks to Zane Safrit, who offers a 52 – Week Employee Recognition Plan. He’s posted recognition ideas every week since last May … which means you can access all 10 months worth of ideas posted to date while awaiting the remainder of his postings for the next two months.

The best part is you can customize this 52 week plan to fit your organization’s needs; it doesn’t have to be a linear process. According to Zane:

“You can start with any week of the 52 – Week Employee Recognition Plan and make that your first week.
You can take one of those weeks and turn it into a month or commit to an accelerated pace and complete 6 of the weeks in one month.
You can create your own week of employee recognition … But, do something to recognize your employees! They set your brand apart as your ultimate competitive edge.
And the more you recognize their achievements, the more achievements you’ll see and they’ll enjoy, along with your customers and and shareholders, partners and vendors.”

I encourage you to share Zane’s weekly recognition plan with your staff and colleagues.

I also want to extend my thanks and appreciation to Zane for all his efforts, creativity, and generosity in developing and sharing these great ideas!

 

One Comments

  • Zane Safrit March 1, 2011 Reply

    Well, now.
    Thank you. Two words. And I could use a page or two to blow up what they mean here. Here’s a Cliff Notes version:
    Thank you for that great book of yours! A delight to read.
    Thank you for that hour of your time as a guest on my radio show. Kindred spirits are great to meet. But then when they take each other’s ideas and riffs and run with them and make them bigger….that wasn’t a show. No. It was a celebration.
    Thank you for this post. Being recognized by someone I admire, a kindred spirit, reinforces the power of recognition and why it’s so simple, personal, and inspiring. Thanks for this great surprise today!

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