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If your company already has a SERVICE AWARD Program, learn how to BREATHE new LIFE into it and use it to CUT TURNOVER, ABSENTEEISM and IMPROVE Safety!

Notice the article by Bob Nelson, author of the Best Seller 1001 Ways to Reward Employees--it points out the FLAWS in today's most popular OLD SCHOOL Service Recognition Programs. If your company DOESN'T HAVE a program, learn why you should! Why Should Your Company Have a Service Award Program? 500 of the Fortune 500 companies all have formal Service Recognition Programs. They know that these programs quickly pay for themselves by yielding.... reduced turnover improved safety performance lower unscheduled absenteeism costs What sets our Service Award Program apart from the rest? Flexibility. Most companies make you pick from the items in THEIR catalog. We do it the other way---finding what appeals to your employees and then building a video catalog from this. Better Value.Our approach assures you of good value and great service on the gifts you offer. Better Selection. Have as few, or as many gift choices as you want! More Pizazz! We're in the video age, and unfortunately, most service award vendors haven't realized it. We're happy to provide you with traditional, expensive, boring paper catalogs, but our ELECTRONIC, PC CATALOGS really get people interested! Imagine showing these in the company lunchroom and to your NEW EMPLOYEES!

Consultant Dispels Myths About Award Programs By Bob Nelson Author of 1001 Ways to Reward Your Employees

The vast majority of recognition programs are obsolete, according to a 10-year national study, the Independent National Study of Recognition Policies and Practices, by Perspectives Resources, Inc. In fact, many of them demotivate rather than motivate employees, because they are based on concepts designed in the '60s and '70s and no longer meet either corporate objectives or employee needs. "Companies are spending more than $500 million annually on service award programs that don't work," says Edward L. Ford, recognition consultant, "and minor changes will not address the problems. At the same time, with all the downsizing and change taking place in business today, recognition is more important to the morale of employees than ever. It is imperative that companies take a fresh look at what constitutes effective recognition -- including what the needs of the award recipient are." Here, we dispel some common myths about award programs.... Myth one: Logo emblems of gold and diamonds make the best award. Fact: Corporate emblems are outdated, and 95.8 percent of employees would rather have practical merchandise items as awards. Since many employees eventually receive logo awards, such as "years of service" awards, they stop carrying recognition impact. Moreover, since employees no longer feel the same job security as in the past, they no longer have the same corporate identity. As a result, the company logo is less important to them. In addition a two-year study, which covered 1,500 employees and 200 companies, representing a total of 12.4 million individuals compiled the Employee Needs and Wants Recognition Index (ENRI) which measures the effectiveness of recognition award programs. Results showed that only 4.2 percent of employees would choose logo jewelry over merchandise for awards. Myth two: Recognition programs incorporate award choices that employees really want. Fact: According to the ENRI, 70 percent of employees would choose something other than what they are offered. "A human resource executive from one of the nation's largest banks helped put award choices in perspective by asking, 'How many pins...how many pen and pencil sets... can you use?' " says Ford. The ENRI study identified the 200 most popular service award selections. The top five include: electronics and entertainment cameras, optics and camcorders watches, clocks and weather instruments crystal, china, silver, and kitchen accessories sports and outdoor equipment "Consider how many of these items and categories are included in your own program," says Ford. "An effective program needs selections that incorporate several of these categories." Myth three: A simple change in selection or awards will substantially improve your recognition program. Fact: To address employees' changing attitudes, more and more companies are reengineering their recognition policies. Here are some key factors in restructuring award programs: Establish the goals and objectives of employee recognition and obtain management support. Survey a representative sampling of employees as to what they want and need in a recognition program. Make sure every region and its differences are represented. Create a program based on employee feedback and input from program administrators. To help empower employees, make it an employee-defined, not a corporate-defined program. As often as possible, make recognition timely, preferably as close as possible to the reason for which you are recognizing an employee, rather than monthly, quarterly or annually. Reengineering can actually help companies save money rather than spend more on recognition, while allowing them to provide awards that employees really want. For example, 117 companies that re-engineered their programs during 1994 and 1995 saved an average of 42.9 percent on their programs, and their average award cost per employee per year dropped from $17.66 before reengineering to $9.21 afterwards. Myth four: Companies should reduce or eliminate years of service awards. Fact: Companies should not cut programs at random. Instead, they need to make all recognition programs more effective by aligning them with shifting employee attitudes and updating them annually. Identify which types of awards are most appropriate in your present corporate culture. Employees may like the types or recognition your program offers. Their dissatisfaction may lie in the awards they are offered. We Look Forward to Working with You on Re- Engineering Your Service Award Program! For a FREE VIDEO on how to design the best Service Award Program for your company, please CLICK HERE...Takes you to the Order form... For more information on why Service Awards make good sense for your company, read on........

REWARDING EMPLOYEES SMARTER.

New Employee Recognition Ideas From Bill Sims! Reprinted with Permission from Bob Nelson, author of the Best Selling Book "1001 Ways to Reward Employees".

Topic: RECOGNIZE YEARS OF SERVICE, DON'T REWARD IT

There's a new program concept sweeping the incentive industry regarding service awards. The concept is simple yet revolutionary in how employees are recognized for years of service-- one of the most frequently used formal recognition programs in the U.S. Already in use by Nynex, NBC, CPC, and other companies, this concept is bound to become an industry standard as it shifts service programs from focusing on the award to focusing on the achievement. Most employee service programs today involve giving an employee logo jewelry with a "jeweling sequence" for their significant years of service in the organization. That is, with each successive anniversary, employees typical receive 10K & 14K logo jewelry of greater worth- and in many companies the cost of such jewelry items is significant--especially when precious gems are used to depict years of service. In some programs, for example, recipients receive a pin at five years, a diamond added at 10 years, a second diamond at 20 years, etc.. Typically, this is some for employees on five- or ten-year anniversaries, ideally with some form of presentation by one's manager. Although the cost of such programs can fun in the millions of dollars, unfortunately, there are some fatal flaws regarding their effectiveness. For example, more times than not an employee's anniversary date goes unnoticed on the day of the event, even though in the employee's mind the specific anniversary date is significant. Perhaps in a subsequent staff meeting mention is made of the date by one's manager or--more likely--a notice and momento of the anniversary appears after the fact via the company mail or the annual awards banquet as much as 12 months after the anniversary date. A second flaw is the nature of the awards that are used. Traditional logo jewrely items or knives, pen and pencil sets and jewrely accessories have lost popularity with employees who would be just as happy--or even happier-- with a lifestyle gift of their choosing. Items such as electronics, cameras, clothing, luggage or even barbecue equipment that will have a practical value are more popular today with employees. A third flaw is that studies show that the perceived worth of logo jewelry used in most service award programs typically is far less that the actual cost of the merchandise to the company. These shortcomings can be fixed in a way that both increases the program's effectiveness while reducing costs and administration. The idea is to standardize the activity of recognizing each employee's anniversary, while at the same time allowing greater flexibility of choice on the part of the employee of items of similar value. For example, each year every employee would receive a letter (the same letter to each employee) from the company's president thanking that person for his or her contribution to the organization. The letter could be sent to the employee's manager for an individualized presentation two or three days prior to the employee's anniversary date. On significant anniversary dates (5, 10, 15, and 20 years) the employees would select a gift from 25 lifestyle items of equal worth.

Each year a new selection of gifts would be made available so that with each significant anniversary, employees have a fresh selection of gifts to choose from. A a result, the focus of the program is on the employee's anniversary, not the increased value of a gift he receives. The gift becomes more of a momento of the occasion. Companies who have tried this approach lave found marked improvement in their service program in terms of effectiveness, reported satisfaction and reduced costs. It is not uncommon for employers to reduce the number of people needed to administer such a streamlined program. In one major corporation, for example, this change enabled the organization to reduce the number of people needed to administer the program from seven employees to one half-time person. All employees celebrating 5- to 20-year anniversaries received a gift of the same value as did employees celebrating 25- 45-year anniversaries. This trend toward recognizing but not rewarding years of service thus places a greater emphasis on the years of service. When was the last time you evaluated the effectiveness of your service program? Chances are you can make some changes to both improve its effectiveness while you reduce the time, energy and expense required to run it.

Copyright by Bob Nelson, vice president of Blanchard Training and Development, Inc., San Diego, CA and author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees (Workman), now in its 13th printing. For more information on revitalizing your service program, contact Bill Sims, Jr., president of The Bill Sims Company Inc. at (800)690-1860.

Why Should Your Company Have a Service Award Program? 500 of the Fortune 500 companies all have formal Service Recognition Programs. They know that these programs quickly pay for themselves by yielding.... reduced turnover improved safety performance lower unscheduled absenteeism costs Here's why...

The Problem: Employee turnover is one of your business's greatest hidden costs. On average, you must hire 3 employees to retain 1 for one year. So, if your average training period for NEWLY HIRED EMPLOYEES is 8 hours, your cost is at least $60 to train a new employee, and that doesn't include the MISTAKES they make that cost you money from POOR QUALITY. That means that your REAL training cost is $180 to get ONE employee to stay with your company for one year! Further, after 1 year, you will continue to lose MORE and MORE employees, so that very few make it to 5 years. In fact, if you're like many companies, you have to hire as many as 20 employees just to keep ONE for FIVE YEARS! So your actual training cost to get an employee & keep them for 5 years may easily approach $1000 or more! That's why smart companies like IBM, Milliken, and others have known for years that a meaningful recognition program enhances your companies' image and PAYS FOR ITSELF MANY TIMES OVER.

The Solution! Let us create a Corporate Commemorative Gift program that your employees will love! And WE RUN IT FOR YOU! We'll monitor all your employees & tell you who's ready for recognition and when! We can even mail it to the home so you don't have to lift a finger (that's our little secret, though). If you CURRENTLY HAVE no program, let us build one for you--it's easy, and cost effective. If you ALREADY HAVE a program, let us RE- VITALIZE it with a new approach your people will LOVE! Since we know the INS and OUTS of making your program IRS Tax Free, you can be SURE that you'll be in full compliance with tax guidelines.

WHY YOU SHOULD USE THIS PROGRAM INSTEAD OF CASH, GIFT CERTIFICATES, OR SAVINGS BONDS...

1. Completely Tax Free! Under a little known change in the Tax Law, Congress allows you to award TAX FREE a "tangible gift" for $400 every 5 years your employees work with you! CASH & SAVINGS BONDS ARE TAXABLE! So you lose about 40% of your budget to Uncle Sam! And many employees wind up cashing in their bonds immediately, so they can use the money to pay the light bill.

2. Cash Causes Guilt Feelings. When an employee gets cash, he/she cannot spend it on himself. Usually there's an argument in the family over how to spend the money--either to pay off the credit card or the light bill. With a gift, there is no argument, and the employee receives a gift they will cherish for many years, THAT THEY WOULD NOT BUY FOR THEMSELVES!

3. No "Trophy Value". An employee can point with pride to their relatives & friends that "This is the TV my company gave me!" THAT IS SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE. But an employee who gets cash is BRAGGING if they comment on how much money they make working for your company. THAT IS SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE.

4. Becomes Part of Compensation. Cash quickly becomes part of the compensation package and employees assume they will always get it. You cannot take it away or change it without severe difficulty.

Do you need to improve morale, reduce injuries & work comp costs, boost sales, or motivate your employees to turn in more money saving bright ideas? Are your absenteeism, healthcare costs and turnover spiraling out of control? Our solutions deliver the results you need fast.... For over 40 years, The Bill Sims Company, Inc. has offered employee motivation and recognition programs that have helped large and small firms like yours not waste valuable clock time or money. We provide your business with more than 50 years of employee recognition, motivation and appreciation experience that will help you develop an employee appreciation, employee recognition reward and employee suggestion programs you need to inspire better employee performance, meaningful morale, sales incentive results and bottom-line profits. With employee motivation and morale improvement, you will have sales and performance improvement as well. Through our employee appreciation, recognition reward and employee suggestion programs, your company will continue to improve in employee performance, meaningful morale, sales incentive results and bottom-line profits. We also offer behavior change programs that will make your work place a safer place for your employees. One client invested $20,000 and achieved $1.3 Million in savings in 9 months alone. Order our free DVD to learn more.