Regaining the Passion to Value Others

Relationships are the basis of employee engagement. On next week's episode of Real Recognition Radio "Regaining the Passion to Value Others", my colleagues Roy Saunderson and S. Max Brown will be interviewing Monica Diaz, author of the book, "Otheresteem: Regaining the Passion to Value Others", also speaker, trainer and executive coach.

Their discussion will shed new light on how real relationships and real leadership can engage both you and your employees creating a more efficient, productive and dynamic work environment.

Tune in every Tuesday, 1 PM ET on Real Recognition Radio.

Recognition from the Hart: Spring Is In The Air

Employers Web have just published my new article, "Spring Is In The Air."

The sun is back and shining, and all any of us want to do is put on our sunglasses and head for the great outdoors. Unfortunately, that does not bode well for employee productivity. Read my new article on employers web for some practicle tips on what you can do to keep your employees positive and engaged during the sunny season.

Thank You Thoughts

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." - William James

Recognize Earth Day!

The environment is an issue that affects us all and today is particularly important as we celebrate “Earth Day 2010”. Here at Rideau, we are playing the extraordinary movie “Home” for all our employees.

“Home” was released on World Environment Day 2009. It is a beautiful picture with an amazing soundtrack. It takes us everywhere on the planet and traces the history of life, human-kind and our impact on the planet.

I’m proud of Rideau’s environmental initiatives. We are very fortunate to have Jay Whitehead on our Board of Directors. Jay has co-authored a book called the “Post Carbon Economy” and is at the epicenter of corporate social responsibility. His magazine CR is doing amazing work and Rideau is proud to sponsor the “100 Best Corporate Citizens Awards” in America. Today, Jay was the opening speaker at the Yale University – New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Earth Day 40th Anniversary CEO Summit! Jay was introduced by the CEO of the NYSE!

We are also lucky to have Valerie Duchesneau on our team. She is our resident “in-house” environmentalist. Thanks to her leadership Rideau has made significant strides in reducing our carbon footprint and more importantly, she has helped us design recognition programs that reduce environmental impact and actually give back to the planet.

Valerie Duchesneau on Earth Day

Helping the environment is the right thing to do and it also makes good business sense!

According to the Sirota Survey Intelligence organization, corporate social responsibility contributes positively to a company’s bottom line, as well as increases employees’ pride as well as their engagement.

The numbers are amazing. Sirota’s research found that of employees who are satisfied with their employer’s CSR commitment:

• 86% have higher levels of engagement
• 82% feel their organization is highly competitive in the marketplace
• 75% feel their employer is interested in their well-being
• 71% rate senior management as having high integrity
• 67% feel that senior management has a strong sense of direction

I urge you to watch “Home”! Hopefully, you too will be inspired by this phenomenal documentary!

Building a Positive Workplace Environment

Shake up your organization today! This week, my colleagues S. Max Brown and Roy Saunderson interview guests Matthew J. Grawitch, Ph.D. Director of the Organizational Health Initiative at Saint Louis University as well as David W. Ballard, PsyD, MBA, Assistant Executive, Director for Marketing and Business Development at the American Psychological Association and the APA Practice Organization.

Drs. Grawitch and Ballard will tell you how to make your organization a high performing workplace and a positive work environment. Discover how recognition, incentives and wellness programs can be leveraged to transform your organization into an engaged, productive and healthy one. Join Max and Roy for a great conversation!

Tune in here next Tuesday, April 27th, at 1 PM ET.

Past show episodes available on itunes!

Real Recognition Radio Show: Re-Engaging People and Workplaces

Tune in TOMORROW at 1 PM ET to re-Engage with Best Selling author Leigh Branham & his co-author Mark Hirschfeld on Real Recognition Radio. Roy Saunderson and S. Max Brown will be interviewing these guests who will be addressing their book Re-Engage: How America’s Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times, Leigh and Mark will tell you how to keep your best people engaged, and relay their recent research findings of companies identified as “Best Places to Work”.

Learn the six universal drivers of employee engagement and what gets in the way of leaders valuing employee contributions. Real Recognition Radio is going to help you get your employees engaged so you can create a positive and productive workplace environment!

By discovering the roots of turnover, employee disengagement, absenteeism and presenteeism, guests Mark and Leigh will be showing you how to hold on to your most precious resource, your employees.

Tune in tomorrow at 1 PM ET!

Lessons Learned from Amazon

A few of years ago Amazon announced with great fanfare that it was going to go into the incentive and rewards fulfillment business. Companies would be able to take advantage of Amazon’s volume purchasing and free shipping. Recipients would have access to millions of reward items! Companies could become incentive suppliers without having to invest in the requisite supplier and distribution network.

WOW… too good to be true!

I admit Rideau explored the Amazon option. We even went to the considerable expense of integrating directly with Amazon (most companies went through third party integrators).
But we never flipped the switch on for any of our clients. We just weren’t comfortable with Amazon’s extremely short cancellation clause. It just didn’t make any sense. Logic said Amazon should try to lock us in for a longterm contract but they didn’t want that. We questioned their longterm commitment to our marketplace and the possible implications for our clients' employees.

We laid all this out to our clients in an open and transparent fashion. Fortunately, our clients agreed!

Last week Incentive Magazine reported that Amazon is exiting the Incentive fulfillment market and leaving many incentive companies hanging. Amazon’s departure has huge ramifications for our industry. Amazon made it easy for a lot of companies to jump into our business and become quasi competitors. These companies will either be forced out of business or have to invest a significant amount of time and money building their channel partner and distribution networks. More importantly, it will have a very negative effect on the companies and the employees they serviced.

I find it very amusing to see all the companies who so readily embraced this solution as the be all and end all, trying to distance themselves from Amazon.

As John F. Kennedy said, “success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan”!

BTW... I love Amazon. I was one of their very first customers when they opened their website. I bought their Kindle when it first came out and to this day believe that they are an amazing company that has forever changed the nature of the way we do business.

RMI’s Barbara Ruddy Shares Recognition Program Secrets

My colleague, Barbara Ruddy, Senior Consultant and Trainer for the Recognition Management Institute, will be also be speaking (along with Arne Carlson) at this year's RPI conf at the end of April.

Her workshop, co-presented with Sarah Wuertz, CRP PHR, from the Arizona Department of Transportation, is entitled, “You're Spending our $'s on What?” It will show attendees the best way to get strategic about your recognition program to get full value for every dollar, so your program will stand up to public scrutiny.

Barbara is both the founder of STARS, and the first certified Recognition Professionals International (RPI) instructor authorized to teach all RPI Certified Recognition Professional® courses, in addition to the DEERS (Designing Effective Employee Recognition Strategies) curriculum. At the State of Arizona, Department of Economic Security, Barbara designed and implemented employee recognition systems for over 10,000 employees and her programs have served as models for both public and private sector organizations.

Both presenters are going to be sharing their experiences and are going to help attendees "design and implement a recognition strategy that is financially efficient and with positive perception."

Click here for more information and if you'd like to register.

Thank You Thoughts

"Flattery is from the teeth out. Sincere appreciation is from the heart out." -
Dale Carnegie

Simple Truths of Appreciation

How does enthusiasm build morale at work? Why do leaders forget the power of appreciation? These questions will be answered on the next episode of Real Recognition Radio!

My RMI colleagues S. Max Brown and Roy Saunderson will be welcoming Barbara Glanz, leadership expert and author of eleven books, including The Simple Truths of Service As Inspired by Johnny the Bagger® to share her secrets on how to spread “Contagious Enthusiasm” in the office.

Barbara has worked with organizations around the globe, and her client list includes Honda, Disney, and Southwest Airlines, to name a few. Her work focus is on how to improve morale, retention, and service. Most importantly, she works with people who want to rediscover the joy in their work and in their lives while acknowledging that we will all face challenges.

During this uplifting Real Recognition Radio episode, you too will learn how to inspire others to achieve great things and transform the workplace as well as live a better, fuller, more engaged life.

Tune in next Tuesday, April 13th, at 1 PM ET!

Arne Carlson to Keynote at RPI's Upcoming Conference

My good friend Arne Carlson is the former Governor of Minnesota and sits on Rideau’s Board of Directors. Arne will be keynoting at Recognition Professionals International’s upcoming conference at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada. The conference runs from April 24-28, 2010. For more details click here.

You can hear why Arne thinks recognition is so relevant right now along with some of the things RPI members will learn during his keynote by listening into this recognition podcast.