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Staff appreciation gifts that send a meaningful message of thanks don’t need to break your budget!
In fact, budget-friendly staff appreciation gifts are more effective than even expensive bonuses because the focus is on your gratitude and on a thoughtful gift that has personal significance.
“Bringing unengaged and detached employees back to the pack doesn’t have to be a pricey undertaking,” according to the employee feedback experts at Quantum Workforce. (more…)

Workplace happiness depends on leaders who know how to empower employees. “The Arrival of the People-First Workplace” has begun, according to a recent PSFK editorial round-table.
“It’s high time for all companies — whether operating in a converted loft or from the top floor of a Midtown skyscraper — to adopt a people-first workplace. Or, as our report tells it, ‘corporations run the risk of fragmenting internally if they continue to separate employees from the high-value service they provide customers,'” PSFK’s Bogar Alonso writes. (more…)

Send a genuine, meaningful message of appreciation to your distributed employees this Thanksgiving: choose a Turkey Gift Certificate or Turkey Or Ham Gift Certificate from gThankYou. It’s America’s Favorite Corporate Turkey Gift™!
gThankYou specializes in corporate turkey gifts that make it easy and affordable to express your gratitude, even in workplaces with employees spread across the country.
Recipients love the ability to choose the size, brand and preparation of turkey that’s best for their family Thanksgiving celebration. gThankYou! Turkey Gift Certificates can be redeemed for any brand of whole turkey, at virtually all major grocery stores in the U.S. (more…)

Everyone benefits from a healthy culture of workplace gratitude: employees, managers, company leadership and, of course, customers.
World Gratitude Day is this Wednesday, Sept. 21, so we’re taking time this week to reflect on how gratitude in the workplace supports people and amplifies gratitude elsewhere in our lives.The origin of World Gratitude Day dates back to 1965. It was inspired by the all-American holiday of Thanksgiving!
At an international Thanksgiving dinner in Hawaii that year, Indian meditation teacher and World Gratitude Day founder Sri Shinmoy “proposed a globally unifying holiday to formally express gratitude and appreciation.” The United Nations formally adopted it in 1977.
In 2015, “Gratitude Diaries” author Janice Kaplan wrote a column for the Chicago Tribune on (more…)

Our gratitude is what makes Thanksgiving special. Be sure you’re communicating your workplace gratitude clearly and in a memorable way. Every order of gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude (for a whole turkey, turkey or ham, groceries and more) come with free customizable Gratitude Cards to share your personal message of thanks – holiday time or any time.  We’re excited to announce the addition of new designs to our selection of Autumn and Thanksgiving Thank You Cards for employees, customers and clients.
Catch your employees’ eyes with these beautiful cards. Each includes a thoughtful Thanksgiving greeting, gorgeous art and space for your personal message and even company logo if you wish. Cards are 3-inches high by 4-inches wide (3″ X 4″) and printed on high-quality card stock.
Don’t skip Thank You cards this Thanksgiving! They’re vital to building a strong workplace culture. Gratitude is transformative in the workplace. A thoughtful employee Thank You note actually motivates employees more than the prospect of a cash bonus or promotion. Make your gratitude shine this holiday season with gThankYou’s unique Thanksgiving Thank You cards for employees! (more…)

Turkey Gift Vouchers from gThankYou give you the ability to share a token of holiday appreciation with your employees that’s both meaningful and convenient.
Our gift certificates for Turkey (or for Turkey or Ham) allow you to easily reward and thank your staff with a gift they’ll remember all year. Recipients love the ability to choose the turkey that’s best for their family holiday celebration. gThankYou vouchers can be redeemed for any brand of whole turkey, at virtually all major grocery stores in the U.S. (more…)

Happy Positive Thinking Day! Have you been inspiring positivity in the workplace lately?
One of the most interesting employee engagement cases of the past year was related to positivity in the workplace — with some fascinating lessons in how (and how not) to pursue it.
Explicitly mandating positivity in the workplace is risky, as T-Mobile recently discovered. The National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling against T-Mobile in April declaring that the telecommunications company had run afoul of the law by including a provision in its employee handbook requiring workers “to maintain a positive work environment in a manner that is conducive to effective working relationships.”
Sounds harmless, right? It isn’t, legally speaking. (more…)

Thanksgiving is America’s oldest tradition

Our shared holiday of gratitude, Thanksgiving, has been celebrated for centuries.
Gratitude, hospitality and inclusion are the hallmarks of this uniquely American holiday, celebrated with a feast of turkey shared with family and friends.
For generations, businesses have made it a tradition to give employees a turkey at Thanksgiving. Since the practice began more than a century ago, it’s grown and spread across industries and into workplaces small and large. It’s endured from the industrial age into the digital age.
Sharing a turkey gift at the holidays is meaningful and appreciated by everyone. Plus, it’s smart business. An employee turkey gift communicates your Thanksgiving gratitude to your workplace family for all their hard work and contributions to the success of your organization. (more…)

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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Hard to believe, but it’s autumn already! Now’s the time to start planning your Thanksgiving gifts for employees.
Giving employees a Thanksgiving turkey is a company tradition going back generations. Historians date the practice to the manufacturing boom of the 1800s, as a way to introduce immigrant workers to American culture and the holiday spirit of Thanksgiving.
In the early days employers handed out actual fresh or frozen turkeys. It was, and still is, an appreciated gesture.
Now we have a more practical, easy and appreciated way for (more…)

Is mindfulness the missing element in your workplace gratitude culture?
A workplace gratitude culture that doesn’t sustain a commitment to mindfulness is like a flame without oxygen — it will quickly flicker out.
Workplaces thrive when they support a culture of gratitude. According to the Harvard Medical School editorial “In Praise of Gratitude,” gratitude is “strongly and consistently” associated with greater happiness.
Gratitude also “helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships.” In the workplace, employees who hear gratitude (more…)

An employee turkey gift is one of the best ways to reward and thank staff at the holidays or anytime. It’s a workplace tradition going back generations!
But not all employee turkey gift options are created equal. Don’t get stuck this year with a holiday turkey gift that’s inconvenient, expensive or comes with strings attached.
Here at gThankYou, we’re proud to offer America’s Favorite Employee Turkey Gift! Customers return to us year after year for gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and our great customer-service team. (more…)

It’s that time of year again: time to start planning your Thanksgiving turkey gift for employees!
A new book about Thanksgiving coming out in October, from journalist and Hudson Institute senior fellow Melanie Kirkpatrick, calls it “the holiday at the heart of the American experience.”
Thanksgiving is also at the heart of a workplace tradition going back generations. Companies have been sharing a Thanksgiving turkey gift with employees for at least a century. (more…)

A thoughtful employee Thank You note motivates employees more than the prospect of a cash bonus or promotion, according to a recent study.
The study, from Appirio, underscores the importance of a boss’ appreciation to employees.
Of those surveyed, 60 percent said that when they’re considering a job offer, the most important factor is knowing whether management appreciates employees. By comparison, only 4 percent said they were most concerned with knowing how often a company evaluates employees for raises.
The majority of workers “value a human expression of appreciation for a job well done,” the study’s authors wrote. (more…)

It’s back to the future for employee Thank You notes! Even in the digital age, handwriting a Thank You note to employees is enjoying a comeback among HR professionals and business leaders.
“I think the art of the handwritten note is still powerful. I try to write at least a few each month to members of my team,” American Cancer Society CIO Jay Ferro writes in his recent Enterprisers Project article, “3 Powerful Ways to Praise Employee Progress.”
Regular, informal and low-cost employee recognition is on the rise, according to a survey at last month’s 2016 SHRM Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.
Employee Thank You notes fill the need for low-cost recognition — and they work. (more…)

The following blog is contributed by public relations expert JP George, who enjoys blogging about leadership, talent management and organizational business.
Summer in the Workplace — Taking Advantage of Building Workplace Community

Companies have a great opportunity come summertime to create a fun and enjoyable workplace, while at the same time building a great teamwork environment. Businesses that invest in team-building develop the most productive and happy employees. They’re also seen by potential job-seekers as an appealing place to start or continue their careers. As O.C. Tanner explains, “A growth of team-building skills in the workplace can positively influence group projects, campaigns, employee engagement and motivation in the workplace.”
This summer, take advantage of the easy ways to inject fun into your workplace and build a stronger workplace community. Michael Kerr, author of “You CAN’T Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work” shares his top 10 ways to add fun this summer in the workplace in this recent blog post.
Read on below for five fun, festive and community-building ideas to help you make the most of summer in the workplace.
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Employee appreciation gift certificates are the perfect way to thank your staff — and gThankYou has one for every occasion!
From on-the-spot recognition to workplace wellness incentives to milestone celebrations, and from New Year’s to 4th of July to Thanksgiving, we’ve got you covered. gThankYou offers nine types of grocery store Gift Certificates in a variety of values to meet your company’s specific needs and budget.
U.S. employee engagement is slowly rising but remains dismally low, according to the latest Gallup report. Two-thirds of Americans remain unengaged in their jobs, and experts agree that employers need to do a better job of recognizing employees and rewarding excellence. (more…)

Roll out the red carpet! Welcome gifts for new hires are trending as a way to help employees feel appreciated from day one.
“First days are tough. You haven’t made ‘work friends’ yet so you feel alone, you don’t know the company culture or jargon yet so you feel confused, and you are quite literally lost (‘Where’s the coffee and bathroom?),” writes Forbes contributor and employee engagement expert Kevin Kruse in his article, “1 Thing Every New Hire Should Get On Their First Day.”
Welcome gifts — accompanied by a nice introduction letter, as Kruse suggests — are essential to effective onboarding and making a good first impression. They send the message right away that new hires are welcome, needed and appreciated. (more…)

June is National Safety Month. What is your workplace doing to motivate, recognize and reward safe behavior?
As safety recognition programs become standard for many companies, best practices are emerging.
Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care in Colorado reduced safety incidents by more than a third since it introduced an incentivized safety program in 2009. The program focuses on public recognition in front of peers and sharing meaningful gifts with employees who stay safe.
“Essentially, we felt like money comes and goes,” Kelly Gouge, Swingle’s director of operations, tells Lawn & Landscape Magazine for a “Spotlight on Safety” feature in the May issue.
“But if we provide an item that means something to them — whether that’s (more…)

Remember “Spirit Week” in high school? It’s the week leading up to Homecoming that’s filled with fun activities, time-honored traditions and dress-up themes that celebrate school spirit and show support for your school.
Workplace spirit is the grownup version, and it isn’t just one week a year.
It’s the day in, day out expression of a strong and positive company culture. Employees are engaged, happy and productive. Excellent work is celebrated, and every employee understands and is committed to company goals.
“The first time you step foot in a business, you get a feel for its spirit. A company can feel cold, stiff and tense, or to the contrary, it can feel (more…)