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Make A Difference Day is today, Oct. 22. How are you and your team celebrating?
If you missed organizing a Make A Difference Day activity in your workplace this year, no worries! Now’s a great time to look ahead to #GivingTuesday. Similar to Make A Difference Day, it celebrates gratitude, giving and volunteerism.
After Thanksgiving, we have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday — and #GivingTuesday on Tuesday, Nov 29.
#GivingTuesday is a “global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration,” according to GivingTuesday.org. It “kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.”
United Way calls these Days of Caring. Besides Make a Difference Day and #GivingTuesday, the organization also includes Martin Luther King Day, Read Across America Day, National Volunteer Week, Day of Action, and 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.
#GivingTuesday and other Days of Caring are a fantastic opportunity to engage employees with volunteerism and giving back. You can organize activities inter-departmentally or with the community in your neighborhood, city or state, or even orchestrate a nationwide effort with employees across distributed company locations.
Days of Caring are quickly becoming key workplace celebrations. Read on to find out why, and for planning inspiration.

Workplace Volunteerism Attracts (and Keeps) Employees

Millennials in particular are demanding corporate social responsibility, according to an NPR commentary by Paul Argenti, Dartmouth professor of corporate communication. A recent Nielsen survey shows the younger generation is “significantly more responsive” to corporate social responsibility “in both consumption as well as employment decisions.”
A triple bottom line is emerging: people, planet and profit.
“Millennials are choosing to spend their resources — be it time or money — on organizations that appear to represent a set of values,” Argenti writes.
One company incorporating volunteerism and giving back into its business strategy is TCC, the Verizon wireless retailer. CEO Scott Moorehead explains that the “commoditization of wireless retail stores meant we needed to do more to differentiate ourselves in order to grow a loyal customer and employee base.”
So TCC started “Culture of Good,” a program aimed at engaging its employees, 85 percent of whom are Millennials. Employees are allowed 16 hours of paid time-off annually to devote to volunteer efforts. In 2015, the company donated $1.2 million to employee-led charity efforts.
“Such a policy fits well with two of the major requests from Millennials: empowerment and the ability to affect local communities,” Argenti writes.
It’s also good for business. As a result of “Culture of Good,” TCC reported higher employee retention and satisfaction, as well as an increase in customers.
“Although each generation bemoans the faults of the following ones, perhaps it’s time we give Millennials credit where credit is due: They are forcing business to do good while doing well. Companies need to rise to this challenge quickly or risk becoming an anachronism,” Argenti writes.

5 Ideas for Workplace Giving Inspiration

Be inspired by what companies around the country are doing! It’s the best way to start brainstorming your own ideas for Make A Difference Day, #GivingTuesday and other celebrations of volunteerism.
1. Volunteer at a homeless shelter
Employees and their families at 11Alive, an Atlanta-area TV station, are volunteering at a shelter for women and children called My Sister’s House. Coworkers from parent company TEGNA are joining them. John Deushane, general manager of 11Alive, says Make A Difference Day demonstrates “how easy it is to volunteer and how lives can be changed … for both those being helped as well as for those helping.”
2. Teach kids athletic skills
Experts recommend that corporate #GivingTuesday activities be strategic and on-brand. Reebok did just that last year by encouraging its customers to support Fight For Peace, an organization that teaches kids boxing and martial arts combined with education and personal development.
3. Ask for favorite charity nominations
CVS Health invites employee volunteers to nominate a charity in their local communities for a grant from the CVS Health Foundation. In response to the overwhelming success of the 2013 #GivingTuesday campaign, the foundation in 2014 more than doubled its commitment and awarded a total of $100,000 to 50 organizations nationwide.
4. Let employees volunteer at their charity of choice
Ryder System, Inc., the commercial fleet management and supply chain company, invites employees to volunteer on #GivingTuesday at local charities of their choice. During a recent year, 220 employees participated from 29 Ryder locations across the country.
5. Make your city beautiful
The City of Mesa (Ariz.) is spearheading an effort to get everyone in town involved in Make A Difference Day. City staff along with residents, neighborhood groups, local businesses and church groups are volunteering on a variety of beautification and cleanup projects, including painting, landscaping and distributed neighborhood resource bags.

Make A Difference Day and #GivingTuesday Celebrate Gratitude

Gratitude is transformative in the workplace! Want to build gratitude in your workplace? Download gThankYou’s must-have free eBook, “Transform Your Workplace With Gratitude.” It’s full of practical learning that you can start putting to use today. Learn from positive psychology and leadership experts how to build (and sustain!) a workplace culture of gratitude that attracts employees and customers.

About gThankYou, LLC
Turkey Gift Certificates and Turkey Or Ham Gift Certificates by gThankYou! are two of America’s favorite employee gifts and can be redeemed for any brand (Turkey or Turkey Or Ham), at virtually any grocery store in the U.S.
gThankYou, LLC provides company leaders with a variety of easy, meaningful and affordable ways to recognize and reward employees, holiday time or anytime. gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and our free Enclosure Cards are personalizable including incorporating your company logo. And, nearly all orders ship same day.
gThankYou, LLC (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, Wisconsin. Contact: Rick Kiley, Chief ThankYou! Officer, gThankYou, LLC at info@gthankyou.com or 888-609-2234.
Follow the Company Blog — “Celebrating Work”.
Join the Conversation @gThankYou
“G” logo and “Certificates of Gratitude” are trademarks and “gThankYou” is a registered trademark of gThankYou, LLC.

gThankYou is excited to announce our new Spanish resources for your gThankYou! Turkey Gift Certificates. Our “Thank You” Enclosure Cards and other free resources en Español make it even easier and more convenient to show your gratitude to all employees!
We recently updated both the English and Spanish versions of our “About Your Certificate” letter for gThankYou! Gift Certificate recipients.
In addition, we have new Spanish-language Enclosure Card designs for both Autumn/Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays.

And we offer Spanish-language customer service!
Thanksgiving in particular is celebrated by all Americans. As we learned in our recent interview with Melanie Kirkpatrick — author of “Thanksgiving: The Holiday at the Heart of the American Experience” — it’s one of the first American traditions that immigrants learn about and embrace.
Help the Spanish speakers on your staff embrace and celebrate the holidays (and their gThankYou! Turkey Gift Certificates) with personalized cards and resources they can easily understand. Read on to see our new Enclosure Card designs en Español and find information on all our Spanish resources for your gThankYou! Gift Certificates.
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Fall will be here before we know it — and that means more than pumpkin spice lattes and chilly weather. Fall is a key time for building workplace culture in the months leading up to the holidays and planning ahead for next year.
Whether or not you have a fall engagement program in place yet, we’ve got resources to help you build a stronger workplace culture every day for the next three months and beyond.
By now everyone has returned from summer vacations and Labor Day camping trips and is back in “work mode.” Take advantage of this period. Energize employees to keep up their focus and motivation during the fourth quarter. A Virgin Pulse study found that a majority of employees surveyed are significantly more stressed during the holiday season and it diminishes their performance on the job.
Get ahead of potential disengagement: renew your team’s commitment to building your company’s workplace culture! Read on for resources to inspire you, from blogs to podcasts and artwork to special trainings. We’ve put together a list of resources with you and your company’s success in mind.
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In 2016, what does the future of employee engagement look like? What is the significance of culture exactly? How do we create “simply irresistible” workplaces?
Josh Bersin of Bersin by Deloitte covered these and other questions in a webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 7.
The webinar, “The New World of Employee Engagement,” was hosted by Jim Bell of Glint, the real-time engagement analytics company.
Bersin focused on how organizations can reinvent their employee experience, better measure and analyze engagement, and recognize employees. He also explained his organization’s Simply Irresistible Framework for “understanding engagement in today’s digital world of work.”
It was a fascinating and informative webinar! Read on for our top takeaways from Bersin’s presentation — including why a simple employee “Thank You” is more effective than the fanciest “country club” workplace perks.
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Employee appreciation gift certificates are an easy, meaningful way to let your distributed workers know how much you value their contributions.
In the absence of daily face-to-face contact with senior managers, communicating appreciation is essential to successfully managing distributed workforces.
“There’s no water-cooler, no stand-up meetings and no face-to-face brainstorming sessions over lunch. A company that relies on a distributed workforce lives and dies by communication,” BuySellAds founder Todd Garland wrote last week in his Forbes column, “How the Best Leaders Manage a Distributed Workforce.”
gThankYou offers organizations employee appreciation gift certificates for practical gifts that are always appreciated – such as a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, a holiday Ham or groceries for an anytime “thank you” for all you do.

Here at gThankYou we have years of experience helping organizations with distributed workforces coordinate gifts to celebrate employees. We know what a challenging process it can be, so we’ve come up with a system to make it as simple as possible while still meeting your company’s individual needs.

Read on to find out why recognizing distributed workforces takes intention and a plan — and how gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude make it easy for you to appreciate employees holiday time or anytime!

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Share employee gifts for parents on your staff during the stressful back-to-school season! It’s an easy and meaningful way to show you are paying attention to them and care about their happiness, well-being and hard work.
The gesture will be appreciated. In a 2015 Care.com survey, more than half of parents reported that the start of the school year interferes with their jobs.
“Additionally, 1 in 4 believe that, throughout the year, supervisors don’t empathize with school obligations that can make them late to work, require they leave early or keep them from work altogether,” SHRM’s Dana Wilkie writes in “Back to School, Back to Stress.”
Read on for tips on managing back-to-school engagement and seven ideas for employee gifts for parents that will help smooth the transition from summer to fall.
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The U.S. Army has enviable workplace culture.
Tens of thousands of positive Indeed and Glassdoor reviews show the Army has the kind of workplace culture that cultivates happy, motivated and loyal employees.
Just listen to current and former Army employees rave about it:
“I love this job because every customer’s issue is unique; you must learn to use your colleagues and resources effectively. There is no such thing as a unfixable problem, every issue will be resolved. I love this job because it’s rewarding and gratifying.” — IT Specialist
“The United States Army is one of the few jobs that bring people together from around the country.” — Sergeant
“The hardest thing about the job was actually leaving. This was the best job I have had.” — Former Supply Specialist
“The U.S Army was a great career. Every day was new, and you expected to be challenged to better yourself in every aspect of living.” — Former Engineer
What does the Army do differently? And can it be applied in a corporate setting?
A recent article in KelloggInsight (the publication of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management) examines the Army’s “culture of responsibility.” The authors explore how a “hierarchically structured organization like the military” builds the kind of environment “where people are willing to take the fall when things go wrong.”
Responsibility is an important part of any good workplace culture. It leads to better communication, faster problem-solving and a sense of community. But beyond responsibility, KelloggInsight’s examination of the U.S. Army management model reveals several great takeaways for building excellent overall workplace culture.
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Resilient employees live with the same challenges and stressors as everyone else. The difference is that resilient employees have developed skills and healthy coping mechanisms to protect themselves. As a result, they have lower prevalence of burnout, anxiety and on-the-job injuries — and bounce back from adversity more quickly.
It’s easy to imagine that resilient employees got lucky at birth, but research shows that workplace resilience can be taught.
Moreover, employees depend on management’s support to become and stay resilient. In this way, resilience isn’t just an individual characteristic but the marker of a healthy workplace culture.
Resilience is often described as “adaptability,” and more and more companies are recognizing the need for individual and organizational resilience as a way to adapt to change.
“The economy, the way people want to live and work, and a whole host of other factors are changing the way work gets done. Some companies are adapting right along with the changes, but many are having difficulties. Coping with today’s stressors on the job requires a different set of strategies and skills, which is why resilience is so important,” according to Psychology Today’s “The Important Ways Developing Resilience Helps You Work Better.”
Help develop and support resilient employees — read on for leadership tips you can act on today. You’ll start to see the difference right away: employees who are more responsive, energetic, engaged, creative and productive!
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Employee gift certificates have more uses than rewards and recognition! They’re also a great way to develop a pay-it-forward culture and build peer-to-peer appreciation.
We were inspired recently by a “pay it forward” story not out of HR but healthcare. A man whose grandson has a chronic kidney disease was able to pay forward his wish to give the boy a kidney.
“I was 64 at the time, and my grandson Quinn was 4. I know Quinn will eventually need a transplant, but by the time he’s ready, I’ll be too old to give him one of my kidneys,” the man said, according to the UCLA Health press release, “‘Gift certificate’ enables kidney donation when convenient and transplant when necessary.”
“So I approached UCLA and asked, ‘Why don’t I give a kidney to someone who needs it now, then get a voucher for my grandson to use when he needs a transplant in the future?’ And that’s just what we did,” he said.
This type of pay-it-forward system using gift certificates encourages altruism, whether people are giving kidneys or random acts of kindness— or just being helpful to a coworker.
Sharing kindness isn’t just the nice thing to do. It’s smart business. Read on for inspiration on how to use employee gift certificates to support workplace altruism and gratitude.
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Giving effective one-on-one performance feedback is an essential skill for any manager to master. Now, as HR transforms to more frequent employee surveys and ongoing appreciation, one-on-ones are becoming less formal and more frequent — and even more vital to building engagement and company culture.
A one-on-one performance feedback meeting is a “precious moment of connection,” author and Wellcoaches CEO Margaret Moore tells Harvard Business Review. “Think, ‘I’m here to make a difference in the life of this person.'”
If that isn’t enough pressure, it’s compounded by another factor: the task of judging another person, and being fair about it.
“What a performance appraisal requires is for one person to stand in judgment of another. Deep down, it’s uncomfortable,” Dick Grote, author of How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals, tells Harvard Business Review.
It’s worth the challenge. One-on-one performance feedback meetings are one of the most useful productivity tools a manager has. Meeting face-to-face is a necessary break from the usual digital communications of the modern workplace. It’s a great time to share gratitude and encouragement. Plus, it gives you a chance to step out of the daily grind and discuss big-picture, strategic questions.
Make the most of your one-on-ones! Read on for tips from Harvard Business Review-approved experts like Moore, Grote and How to Invest Your Time Like Money author Elizabeth Grace Saunders.
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Don’t let summer distractions get the best of your workforce — engage employees with a celebration! Nothing beats the summer doldrums in the workplace like a celebration.
Summer is always full of potential distractions from work, from vacations and camping trips to kids on vacation and outdoor league sports.
And, there is always something fun and interesting to add to the mix –  from the Summer Olympics, an special eclipse or a cultural phenomenon such as Pokemon Go. Did you know when it was launched, 69 percent of Pokemon Go players reported that they’re playing the game on the clock? Yikes, there are distractions everywhere!
Read on to find out why exactly celebrations work so well to engage employees, what type of workplace celebration to avoid, and how to plan fun (and engaging) celebrations for the month of August.
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Frustrated employers dealing with distracted, on-the-clock Facebookers and tweeters used to wonder how to disengage employees from social media.
But now, the latest wisdom in HR and marketing is to engage employees on social media. Companies now are finding success in harnessing the power of employee social media use to increase engagement, happiness and company visibility.
Social media is woven into every aspect of our lives now, even while we’re working — so instead of fighting it, engage with it!
“You don’t need to ask IT whether your coworkers are on social media during the workday. It’s like asking if they are breathing,” writes David Hassell in a Buffer Social blog post on data-driven social media marketing.
“And that can be a great thing,” he adds. Studies show that “employees can post, tweet and pin and still perform at peak levels — maybe even more productively than their less plugged-in counterparts.” When you engage employees on social media, you’re opening up possibilities for a more focused and enthusiastic workforce.
Read on to learn the surprising cost of banning social media at work and how companies leading the way are building engaged workplace communities.
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Employee engagement is not a quick fix or a one-time action that results in lifelong engagement. The work of engaging employees doesn’t end when everyone’s engaged in their work. Even the best, highly engaged employees can easily disengage — and your team should be prepared to help them get back on track.
Forbes contributors David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom describe the situation of one formerly engaged employee, Clint.
“Clint joined the team excited to contribute, eager to learn, and ready to share his unique talents and do great work… but a year later, his interest was winding down,” they write. Now, Clint is “always zoned out during meetings, making excuses to leave early and even staring out into space as his computer falls into sleep mode.”
What went wrong with Clint?
Clint is not a hypothetical person. He’s a real employee, managed by a close friend of Nordstrom’s. Workplaces are filled with employees like Clint — employees who were once “the best and brightest on the team” but have since lost their inspiration and motivation. You’ll recognize them by their obvious boredom, chronic lateness, lackluster performance and workplace burnout.
The good news: re-engagement is possible, especially when you’re prepared for it. The best employee engagement programs are ready to re-engage employees, even before it’s needed. Get your company prepared! Read on for expert-recommended re-engagement strategies.
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Employee recognition feels good, but does it get results?
We know most American workers still don’t get enough on-the-job recognition. Only one in three employees in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past seven days, according to an analysis of Gallup’s latest employee engagement poll.
“At any given company, it’s not uncommon for employees to feel that their best efforts are routinely ignored,” Gallup’s Nate Dvorak and Annamarie Mann write.
Lack of recognition can have costly consequences. Ignored employees don’t wait around for a “thanks” from their bosses.
“Employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they’ll quit in the next year,” according to Dvorak and Mann.
So what happens when employees are adequately recognized? Let’s dig into the latest research on employee recognition programs and their measurable effects on the bottom line.
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Is your employee engagement and recognition strategy stale? Are you and your colleagues burnt out? Take a Think Week!
First popularized by Bill Gates, a Think Week is time set aside for personal and professional development.
Gates secluded himself twice a year for a week, “taking a helicopter or seaplane to the two-story clapboard cottage on a quiet waterfront” where he barred most outside visitors, disconnected from the Internet and spent up to 18 hours a day reading and pondering the future of technology, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some of Gate’s most innovative ideas came to him during his Think Week.
But you don’t need a personal helicopter ride to a private cabin or even seven full days to experience a successful Think Week! Daily reading time and journaling on a family vacation or a new lunch-hour habit of walking while listening to podcasts will expose you to new ideas and inspire your own innovation.
You’ll return to work and “real life” with a different perspective, fresh ideas and boosted enthusiasm. Read on for tips on how to plan your Think Week, plus a list of suggested Think Week reading and listening material.
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Share the summer treat everyone loves! gThankYou! Ice Cream Gift Certificates make great employee recognition or customer appreciation gifts.
What better time to give the gift of ice cream than during National Ice Cream Month? Or if you want to make a fun workplace celebration of it, National Ice Cream Day is coming up Sunday, July 17.
And yes, believe it or not, National Ice Cream Day is an official holiday! Both National Ice Cream Month and National Ice Cream Day originate in Joint Resolution 298, sponsored by Senator Walter Dee Huddleston of Kentucky and signed into law July 9, 1984 by President Ronald Reagan.
So sit back and cool off with a cone or dish of ice cream, sorbet, frozen yogurt or ice cream novelty — all are covered by gThankYou! Ice Cream Gift Certificates. Better yet, share the experience! Ice cream is an easy, unique way to say “thanks” and a great way to celebrate together.
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Intern Appreciation Day is coming up in July. Show your interns the recognition they deserve!
Interns don’t always get a lot of love. When the stereotypical intern isn’t fetching coffee or doing the grunt work no one else wants to, they’re overworked, underpaid or getting mocked behind their backs.
Fortunately, many companies are taking a fresh approach to internships. According to TIME, employers are starting to change their policies to make internships more fair, educational and essential. Ross Perlin, author of Intern Nation, notes: “I think we may be at the very early stages of a significant backlash against an internship phenomenon that has gone off the rails.”
Internships are now “the new first job.” It’s a symbiotic relationship: companies get to know and engage with potential employees, and the intern gets real-world experience with a company that’s actually looking to hire.
This week, let your interns know much they mean to your organization! Read on for Intern Appreciation Day celebration tips.
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Mentoring is a proven, dependable way to increase employee engagement. It engages employees beyond their normal job duties, supports career development, trains future leaders and adds to a workplace-wide culture of gratitude and sharing.
If your company already has a mentoring program, keep it up! Forbes contributor Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith (and countless other engagement experts) consider mentoring one of the top employee engagement tools.
Want to take your mentoring program to the next level? “Try shifting into reverse,” recommends leadership expert and The L Group founder Lee Cohen in his Inc. article, “Reverse Mentoring: The Big Benefits of Learning from Younger Employees.”
Reverse mentoring is a relatively new form of mentoring gaining traction among companies as varied as UPS, Barclays Bank and Suffolk Construction. It reverses the usual mentorship roles: the younger, newer or less senior employee mentors the older, experienced or more senior employee.
“Many organizations are shifting into reverse. They’re asking front line, shop floor or young tech-savvy employees to teach the ‘old dogs’ (that would be me!) new tricks,” writes Cohen.
The reverse mentoring approach typically works best when senior leaders need a better understanding of operations, customer preferences or new technologies, according to Cohen. In turn, leaders can share with their less experienced employees what they’ve learned from years on the job, a process called reciprocal mentoring.
The best employee engagement programs stay fresh with frequent updates. Read on to find out why reverse mentoring is a smart addition to any engagement program, how successful companies are using it and tips for making the most of it as an employee engagement tool.
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Seize the opportunity to engage employees this 4th of July weekend with a workplace celebration!
Federal employees may get Independence Day off, but most industries aren’t able to shut down completely. If your company has employees working on the holiday, a workplace celebration is a great chance for engagement, community-building and fun.
The 4th of July tempts employees to disengage. Not only does it come at the height of summer, there’s an “overpowering appeal of federally sanctioned … holiday shenanigans,” according to the The Guardian article, “Easing Into Fourth of July…Employees Do It Nice and Early.”
“People are hot. It’s a hot summer … People want to get out, they want to enjoy life,” says The Guardian’s Harry Enten. “So what you’ll see is a lot of people sort of slacking off, maybe doing things a little slower.”
Don’t let your employees on the clock in the coming days disengage! Surprise them with a theme party, treats, small gifts or even a field trip into the community for fireworks or volunteering. They’ll appreciate the change of pace — and be inspired to get back to work with fresh enthusiasm.
Read on for 4th of July workplace celebration ideas and examples of what companies around the country do to engage employees for the biggest American summer holiday.
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For the 2016 holiday season, plan your corporate turkey gift the easy way with gThankYou! Turkey Gift Certificates.
For larger companies and distributed workplaces, now’s the time to start thinking about your holiday gift-giving plans.
Whether you would like to share a corporate turkey gift as a holiday gift of gratitude for employees, or as a seasonal customer appreciation promotion, gThankYou has the Turkey Gift Certificate to meet any budget and any need. That’s why we are America’s Favorite Turkey and Turkey or Ham Gift Certificates!
All gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude are Manufacturer Coupons, good for any Brand of merchandise specified, and redeemable at virtually all major grocery chain stores in the U.S.
Recipients love choosing the center piece of their holiday meal, and you’ll love the ease of ordering, handling and distributing your holiday turkey gift. Read on to learn more!
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