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Celebrating Thanksgiving in the workplace is an appreciated and valuable way of showing gratitude to employees. (Photo via Satya Murthy, Flickr)

Celebrating Thanksgiving in the workplace is an appreciated and valuable way of showing gratitude to employees. Don’t miss out this year!
SHRM calls Thanksgiving workplace celebrations an “incredible tool” for managers.
A business veteran and author quoted by SHRM says that “in so many organizations, employees go through their days assuming that their co-workers, and especially their bosses, don’t notice or appreciate all of the hard work that they do.”
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The appointed hour has arrived: it’s time for you and dozens of your relatives and friends to gather around the dining room table, stretched out to its full capacity for the most celebrated meal of the year –Thanksgiving. But, like a weary child from the backseat during a cross-country trip, one question nags at you: Are we there yet? Am I sure the turkey’s done?
For cooks who are afraid of disappointing all their aunts, uncles and cousins on a national holiday, here is a quick list of tell-tale signs that your Thanksgiving turkey is ready for its grand entrance.

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There isn’t just one recipe for success when it comes to employee recognition; there are many thoughtful ways to acknowledge employees’ dedication. Leaders who take the time and energy to show employee gratitude year-round end up with happier team members and a more enjoyable workplace. Below are some ways to show Spring gratitude!

We couldn’t agree more with this recent Forbes article that states,
“Never underestimate the power of ‘thank you.’ Everyone wants to feel recognized and appreciated, so encourage employees to thank the people around them, including their colleagues, senior leaders, and employers, on a regular basis, year-round.”

Is it a coincidence that the year begins with holidays focusing on kindness and gratitude … perhaps to help us keep the heartfelt feelings from December alive?

February brings Valentine’s Day on the 14th and Random Acts of Kindness Day on the 17th while March opens with Employee Appreciation Day on the first Friday of the month.  But rather than reserving these sentiments for certain days or weeks, why not carry them forward and make kindness and gratitude a year-round practice in the workplace?

There’s another way to frame a Valentine’s Day workplace celebration besides romance. It’s a celebration of workplace friendships! (Photo by Tyler Burrus, Flickr)

Planning a Valentine’s Day workplace celebration may seem like a tricky proposition at first glance — drawing attention to romance, among coworkers? That’s an HR headache waiting to happen!
But there’s another way to frame a Valentine’s Day workplace celebration: as a celebration of workplace friendships and the strong bonds that develop between people who work closely together. (more…)

A holiday ham doesn’t have only one part to play in your end-of-the-year celebrations. Check out these great ham appetizer ideas for passing around at family gatherings — all finger food and easy to execute.

Ham Appetizers You Won’t Be Able to Pass Up

Ham and Cheese in Puff Pastry

From Ina Garten, The Food Network.
This is one of my all-time favorite holiday appetizers. It starts with premade puff pastry and comes out of the oven bubbling and delicious. (I especially like it because it doesn’t involve filling little individual quiche cups or wrapping dozens of shrimp in bacon. Who has time?)
You can vary the cheese — cheddar is great for a more kid-friendly version, as is part-skim mozzarella — and any hard cheese could substitute for Gruyere. Yum!

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Redeem your gThankYou! Ham Gift Certificate for any brand of whole or half ham, at major U.S. grocery store chains that honor Manufacturer Coupons.

Redeeming your gThankYou! Ham Gift Certificate is easy!
For the best service, we recommend choosing a traditional chain grocery store such as Kroger, Safeway, Shop-Rite, Publix or other similar types of grocery stores in your area.
Redeem (and enjoy!) your Ham voucher today — or whenever works for you. Your holiday gift is good through the end of April of next year. You get to choose when to enjoy your gift and where to redeem it. It’s all up to you!
Read on for a step-by-step guide on how to redeem your gThankYou Certificate.
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Few centerpieces are more anticipated than a perfectly pink holiday ham, glazed with a spiky coarse mustard and sweet fruit preserves, and sliced into lovely petals.
But if you’re cooking a ham for the first time, getting from the package in the grocery store to that beautiful Christmas Day dinner-table picture can seem like a daunting journey. So, for the newbie, this is our ham primer.

Nueske’s spiral sliced bone-in ham

Choosing and Cooking Your Ham

Start with a cured or smoked (precooked) ham. (You can definitely make a fresh one, but today let’s leave that to the more experienced cooks.) (more…)

The craziness of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday, make it easy to lose the joy and spirit of the holidays. Feeling tired and stressed with the holidays looming ahead? You are not alone.

Your colleagues likely feel this way too. When it comes to sharing year-end employee appreciation, no one wants yet another holiday trinket.

Take Back the Holidays

You can take back the holidays with gratitude.

Gratitude is transformative – it lifts spirits, reminds us of the goodness in others and inspires hope and happiness. It changes our focus so we see more clearly what’s really important.

Preparing a Christmas ham, especially if it’s been conveniently pre-smoked or cured for you, is about the easiest thing you can do for a centerpiece. But that doesn’t mean you can’t add a little something to it—namely, a sweet, decadent glaze to make your ham that much more delicious.
Here are four tips from food bloggers we love on how to make your Christmas ham even more dazzling this holiday.

4 Ways to Glaze a Holiday Ham

1. Blackberry- and mustard-glazed ham, from The Cottage Home

With just four ingredients (blackberry preserves, whole-grain mustard, apple cider, and a precooked ham), this holiday entrée couldn’t be simpler. Blogger Lindsay reports that it’s “a great crowd-pleasing ham … even my husband, who would much prefer some type of red meat, absolutely loved it.”

Credit Curtis Stone

One of our favorite moments is when we unveil the new Enclosure Cards for Christmas and the winter holidays. It’s our own little version of the traditional tree-lighting. ?

This season, we have some exciting new designs to help you offer a meaningful “thank you” to your hardworking team members.

Write a Note of Appreciation

What do employees want most for the holidays? Your appreciation and thanks for their efforts, loyalty and contributions.
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As we approach celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, this quote from Melody Beattie beautifully reminds us of the transformative power of gratitude at the holidays – and every day.

Beattie knows about the transformative power of gratitude having survived a traumatic childhood, addiction and the loss of a child but emerging from this to live a a full and rewarding life. After having an epiphany in rehab that got her to focus her energies on “the right things,” she became a renowned self-help author (she literally wrote the book on codependency, followed by many other bestsellers) and remains a celebrated writer and an inspiring beacon for many struggling with addiction and grief. The daily meditations on her website (or apps) are a good way to start or end your day!

Holidays celebrating gratitude, communal harmony and harvest bounty are common around the world. (Photo via Faith Goble, Flickr)

Did you know that our American Thanksgiving is just one of many gratitude-related Thanksgiving traditions celebrated around the world?
Traditions differ from country to country, but gratitude in action is cause for universal celebration.
The spirit and significance of giving thanks is the same wherever you go — with or without roast turkey and cranberry sauce. So what does giving thanks look like around the world?
Celebrations worldwide of “thanks-giving” share several elements, no matter what people are eating, wearing or singing. We all honor:

• harvest bounty
• communal harmony
• gratitude in action

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Your organization flourishes and grows thanks to the commitment, creativity, and, most of all, hard work of loyal team members – do they know that???

Two BIG words — “thank you” — make a world of difference in the workplace. Study after study shows employees work harder, work smarter, and are retained longer when they feel appreciated.

By Cheryl Baker, Co-Founder and Director of Social Capital, Give and Take, Inc.

When you hear the term “contagion,” what image comes to mind? Disease. Panic in mass crowds. Viral social media trends. Perhaps this time of year, you think of the flu. 

Scientists have found that within groups, thoughts and moods can be just as contagious as physical diseases or behaviors. In a phenomenon called emotional contagion, researchers have observed that “individuals tend to express and feel emotions that are similar to those of others,” seeming to “catch” the feelings of those around them. 

While the word “contagion” often carries a negative connotation, research on the benefits of emotional contagion has shown that this ripple effect may be a secret workplace weapon for productivity and engagement. If you have a culture of generosity and appreciation, you’ve likely seen this in action.

Not sure if you have a generous workplace? (more…)

Ever notice how people save and collect the holiday cards they receive? A holiday message of gratitude is memorable and meaningful. (Photo via slgckgc, Flickr)

Learning how to write a Thanksgiving letter to employees can be a transformative experience — for you, your staff and your company.
Take it from Brian Buffini, founder and chairman of the real estate training and coaching firm Buffini & Company.
In a recent column for Entrepreneur, Buffini writes about why sharing Thank You notes “should be as automatic as brushing your teeth.”
Buffini got the idea early in his career to write 10 notes a day to people he’d recently met, to business contacts and friends, or simply to those who came to mind. (more…)

Delight Employees This Holiday Season

Research backs up what successful organizations have known all along – that appreciating employees day-in and day-out feeds productivity, retains employees and transforms workplace culture.

In other words, as Duke University behavioral economist Dan Ariely says, “recognition drives engagement and engagement drives productivity.”

Gifts are a tangible way to express your appreciation for each employee’s contribution to your organization. It may seem like a simple gesture, but expressing genuine appreciation matters more to recipients than you may think.

Consider this: among workers who feel valued, 88% feel engaged and 93% say their motivated to do their best. (American Psychological Association).
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If you’re reading this blog post, it’s probably because you care about employee appreciation and you may be wondering how digital feedback platforms can help (and which ones could be a good fit for your company).

Why Employee Appreciation Matters

In a Workplace article on Gallup’s website examining the impact of employee recognition, writers Annamarie Mann and Nate Dvorak point out: (more…)