Employee Appreciation Day Is March 6th!

There’s always something to celebrate. This week on March 6th, it’s your employees! What would you do without them?

Back in the day, Logical Position was made up of just five employees in a small office in Beaverton, OR. Client accounts were organized in files containing paper documents (gasp!), and our average PPC package was around $200.

Now, we have almost 100 employees between our two offices in Lake Oswego, OR and Henderson, NV.  That means that we have grown significantly since 2010, when Michael Weinhouse brought together the first team in that tiny office. Our average client ad spend is between $1500 and $2000. A far cry from physical client documents, we now have our own Client Dashboard, which we custom-designed in-house.

Employees have made all this possible.

Some, like Joe Benjamin, have been here since the beginning. Others were hired last month. Of course, most fall somewhere in between.This Friday, we’re going to lighten up the office with a pizza party courtesy of the guys in charge. “It’s going to be a big year for LP,” said Michael Weinhouse when he told me about the plans. “It really means a lot that so many employees have been with us for years. It deserves a round of applause.”

Recognition goes a long way.

“Employees are our greatest asset” is a common refrain among hiring departments for large companies across the board. They say it because it’s true — business is made possible only because people dedicate 40+ hours of theirs lives per week to ensuring that each day, important tasks get completed. If your employees are top performers, then the work your company does will be top quality, improving your reputation and helping you gain more business later down the line.

In Forbes this past week, David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom discuss a recent study that indicates recognition as being one of the most important factors in boosting employee performance. They go on to say that millennials respond even better to recognition than those from other generations. While you shouldn’t reward sloppy work, it’s hard to think of a downside for giving earned recognition when you can — and it could have huge benefits for your company.

Happy Employees, Happy Company

In a continuation of this same point, a 2012 Gallup study proves happiness to be a crucial element of workforce success. From a psychological perspective, the study looked into how productive and creative participants were when they were experiencing different emotions. It turns out that happiness was the state of mind that was most conducive to coming up with new ideas and getting stuff done.

How exactly are you supposed to ensure the happiness of your employees? Happiness is too nebulous a concept to really be measurable, but when we look at how employees conduct themselves in the workplace, engagement can often be a valid indicator of satisfaction. Demotivation is a sign that your employees aren’t getting what they need from their workplace or day-to-tasks, and often comes as a result of dissatisfaction.

Recognizing your employees for their individual contributions to the success can lead each person to consider the impact they can have on the company. It can help them feel more significant, as if their contributions matter. Because, as we’ve already decided, they do.

So, about Friday. If you haven’t planned anything to thank your employees for their hard work, you still have time. If you’re having trouble coming up with something creative, try one of these ideas.

And if you yourself are an employee, remember to give your co-workers and yourself a pat on the back. A little self-congratulation never hurt anyone!