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Whipping your employees into improved physical shape doesn’t have to involve a whip at all. In fact, a few fun office exercise challenges can be engaging enough that the spirit of competition and an awesome certificate of achievement will do. The key is to ensure you keep the office exercise challenges easy to track, amusing to complete and at a level that ensures all can participate. Oh yeah, you’ll also need a few good ideas. Here come five of them.

The Elevator Plague

Office building got an elevator? Have employees avoid it like the plague. Set up a contest to see who can refrain from taking the elevator for a set number of days. Start with a day or two of taking the stairs only, and then extend the length to a week or entire month. Employees who can go the greatest number of days without setting foot on the elevator win.  

The Lunchtime Mile

Reward employees who successfully walk a mile every day during lunch for a month. If your crew is already high endurance, you can up the stakes by making it a 2 or 3 mile lunchtime walk – or even a mile-plus lunchtime run.

The Total Steps Tally

If your company can help employees obtain fitness trackers or pedometers, keeping track of total steps throughout the day is a great way to prompt a steady stream of movement. Employees get credit for walking to work, at work, during lunch and at home, whenever and wherever they can pick up steps.

Tally each employee’s steps at the end of a week or month, rewarding things like the highest overall step count, the highest number of steps in a single day or even the biggest improvement in movement.

The Super Stretcher

Create a booklet packed with easy yet effective stretches employees can do right at their desks, and then reward those who make a habit of it every day for a week, month or even longer. Some simple examples include the:

•       Seated shoulder stretch
•       Seated upper-arm stretch
•       Seated chest stretch
•       Chin tuck
•       Head turn
•       Side neck stretch

The Impromptu Challenge

Call employees together and then randomly choose a fitness-related challenge they can try right on the spot. Ideas include:

•       Greatest number of push-ups
•       Most graceful headstand (or other selected yoga pose)
•       Longest amount of time spent balancing on one leg
•       Most impressive hula hoop or jump rope performance

Keep your certificates of achievement as fun as the office exercise challenges themselves with pithy sayings, cool designs and maybe even a rhyme or two. Then simply sit back to watch your employees flock to participate in the art of getting healthier.

They are the backbone of your business and work together to reach company goals day in and day out. So on Friday, March 4, celebrate your employees. Each year employers across the country take time out of the first Friday in March to honor a job well done on National Employee Appreciation Day.

Relax the Schedule

Start the day off right by allowing employees to come in late, or leave a little early — their choice. This relaxed schedule will allow them to have a leisurely breakfast, or a little personal time before picking up the kids and heading home for the day. And since the celebration is on a Friday, consider a casual work day dress code complete with jeans and T-shirts.

Share a Lunch

At mid-day, treat the staff to a celebratory lunch. If you’re a small company with a handful of employees, book a table at a favorite restaurant. For larger businesses, have a buffet lunch catered to the office. Before the meal, say a few words about the day and remind everyone of the ways they strengthen the company’s progress, brand and morale. Feel free to share some company growth numbers and feedback from customers.

Write Personal Notes

Ask supervisors to take a little time to write personalized notes to each person in their department. These hand-written note cards should highlight individual assets of each person and how they make a positive impact on the company. The sentiments can reflect a specific project or be more encompassing of the employee’s overall performance.

Let Everyone Know

Spread the word about how cool your company is by sharing your activities on social media, especially if you’re recruiting and expanding your workforce. Include a group photo of everyone acting silly, candids of the luncheon and an overview shot of decorations or gifts for the employees. Let customers and fans know you treat your staff well.

Honor Each Person

Everyone loves a little gift. Nothing says thank you like a small monetary bonus tacked on to the Friday pay stub, a goodie basket filled with snacks and wine or a gift card to the local coffee shop. Present these tokens of appreciation at the end of the day as a concluding way to celebrate National Employee Appreciation Day.

Are you ready to make plans for your office? Get started by browsing customizable certificates and note cards at Paper Direct.

Do Thursdays at work seem to drag on and on and on? So, why not goof around a bit? Thursday, January 28 is National Fun at Work Day so it’s completely appropriate to play a few gags on your co-workers, plan a special event or try one of these boredom-busting activities to get the entire office laughing.

Hold a Costume Party

Why wait until Halloween to play dress up? Encourage everyone in the office to dig out their favorite past dress-up clothes, or set a theme for the day. You’re bound to have a little fun at work if everyone is dressed as their favorite celebrity. Or, if you need to keep it a touch more professional, ask everyone to wear the same color shirts or goofy hats that can easily be removed before important client meetings.

Schedule a Breakfast Potluck

There’s nothing better than starting the work day with a relaxed meal. Plus, there’s no such thing as too much bacon or too many doughnuts. Ask everyone to bring their favorite morning foods to share with the rest of the team and let the staff ease into the day with brimming cups of cocoa and steamy lattes.

Set up a Photo Booth

Convert the break room into a goofy photo station. Encourage employees to dress up with props such as oversize glasses and feather boas and take photos with their co-workers. Post the pictures on social media throughout the day to let your customers know that you know how to create a fun work environment for National Fun at Work Day.

Bring Your Pets to Work

Nothing elicits more smiles than cute puppies prancing down the hallways. Or, maybe that quiet guy from IT has a pet iguana on his shoulder to admire. Who knows! Plan to have a pet parade over the lunch hour so all the animal lovers can attend. And don’t forget to give out a few awards for best tail wag, longest whiskers and most colorful critter.

Celebrate Ridiculous Awards

Brainstorm some wacky honors and document it on cool certificates and with small prizes. Throughout the day, reward individual staff members with crazy awards such as Most Likely to Eat a Box of Doughnuts, and present them with a fresh dozen. Or, what about dubbing someone #1 Sales Call Smooth Talker and present them with a new case for their cellphone. This is best for a small staff, so by the end of National Fun at Work Day, each person has earned an award and small gift.

Are you ready to create some cool invites for your employees to this year’s National Fun at Work Day festivities? Or, maybe you need to print some award certificates to commemorate the silliest of participants? Paper Direct has a huge assortment of options available for you to browse online. Shop now!

It requires ongoing efforts to keep your company’s sales force motivated and closing new clients. Of course you compensate them appropriately and provide regular recognition for their service, but if you’d like to get the most from your team, you’ll need to provide creative incentives that go beyond standard rewards. Here are ten sales recognition ideas designed to keep your team whistling while they work.

Shoutout Board 

Go a little old school and tack a bulletin board to your office wall. each week recognize someone for an achievement. Whether it’s straight up sales goals, shortest to close, had work, or another recognizable goal, giving them a shout out is a great way to recognize sales employees. 

Upgraded Work Gear

This one is kind of a win-win for your salesperson. If someone makes a big sale, why not give them a new phone or computer? Not only will your employee appreciate the new toy, your client will appreciate the fact that your salesperson is handling their account with state-of-the-art technology. If a little inter-office jealousy happens to breed some friendly competition, all the better.

Go With A Gadget

These days, everyone has a hobby, and every hobby necessitates some kind of gadget. If you’re looking to recognize a salesperson’s hard work, find out what their hobbies are and then get them a little gadget. In other words, get your employee something they’d want, but they’d never buy for themselves. They’ll be grateful for the personal approach to recognizing their sales work.

A Trip

This one is obviously on the pricey side of things, but if you’re really ready to shine down some affection on one of your high-performing salespeople, consider springing for a trip for them and their spouse. You can bet a  paid all-expenses vacation is something they won’t forget for years to come, and you really can’t put a price on that kind of incentive. It doesn’t have to be a two-week getaway to Europe, but a night or two at a nearby vacation destination will certainly demonstrate your appreciation.  

Bring In Food For Everyone

If you’re looking to single out someone’s performance, but you’d also like to help build a little office camaraderie, consider ordering a meal for the entire staff. When everyone is milling around, enjoying their free eats, take a moment to give credit for the lunch to the specific individual you’re trying to praise. They’ll look like a hero in front of their coworkers and you’ll look like the coolest boss on the planet.

Show The Winner You Value Them

When you’re trying to instigate a little competition among your sales staff (which is never a bad thing), why not single out your highest performing salesperson by having a semi-extravagant lunch prepared and delivered directly to their desk. You can bet your other employees will take note.

Tickets To a Weekday Matinee

A good movie can be a great stress reliever, as can a little time out of the office on an otherwise mundane workday. When you’re the boss that combines the two, then you can bet your employee will take note. Nothing says, “thanks for the hard work,” like the implication that you’re employee has things so well handled that they can take a few hours to enjoy it.

One Word … Beer

The headline here says it all. Few rewards pack quite the same punch as the gift of beer. Whether it’s a six pack at the end of the week for your top earner or a case for everyone who deserves a little recognition, beer is one gift that rarely, if ever, fails.

Say ‘Thank You’ With a Certificate

You would be utterly amazed how far a private or public “thank you” will go with your employees. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it will be immensely appreciated. Look them in the eye and proclaim your appreciation for their hard work with a certificate; you’ll never regret it.

A Night Out On The Town

Spring for dinner for two at a five-star restaurant. Maybe throw in some extra dough for babysitting money, if applicable. Rent a limo. Really show your salesperson the recognition they deserve. A fun night out on the town with their spouse is just the ticket when you’re looking to incentivize your sales team.

Research shows, “Seven out of 10 employees who report they’ve received some form of appreciation from their supervisors say they’re happy with their jobs.” 

When deciding on an employee of the month, you want to evaluate individuals based on a variety of factors. Key employee of the month criteria include work performance, demeanor, professional growth, client/customer service, loyalty, dedication, and workplace cultural contributions.

Work Performance

Most, if not all businesses, will want to recognize a particular person if his/her work performance stands out from the rest. When deciding on an employee of the month, work performance should always be included in your evaluation as it is one of the most important aspects of an staff member’s contribution to your company. Whether it’s a sales leader or a customer service powerhouse, work performance is the top employee of the month criteria.

Demeanor

No one has a good day every day. Despite that, this is the employee who always has a smile on his/her face, and offers positive reinforcement when a project takes a turn for the worst. You’re not going to award the employee of the month honor to someone who is short-tempered, hard to work with, or is overall unpleasant more often than not. Recognize the worker who demonstrates what it means to love their job and to remain dedicated to it even during a bad day.

Professional Growth

There’s room for growth in any position. An employee who takes the time to seek out learning or networking opportunities to better themselves for the job is someone management should absolutely recognize. This worker is dedicated to strengthening their professional skills and knowledge in service of the company. Over time, this person will become a stronger asset for your business.

Client/Customer Service

When an unsatisfied customer gets in touch with your business to complain, this employee can turn lemons into lemonade. Or maybe this employee is a networking master who has built invaluable client relationships for your company. Your business would not exist without clients, so your next employee of the month might be the person who best met your customers’ needs.

Cultural Contributions

Every business has its own culture, and certain employees go above and beyond to contribute to the overall wellbeing of their workplace. Pam from marketing always spear heads charitable efforts the office can participate in. Or maybe IT tech Dwayne designed a green initiative to reduce your company’s carbon footprint. An employee recognition program is an invaluable component of your corporate culture, so a staff member’s efforts to contribute to that should be reviewed when considering who to recognize as employee of the month.

As businesses vary, you’ll want to determine which employee of the month criteria best suit your company, its culture, and objectives before launching this employee recognition initiative. Consider what employee of the month criteria would define a top-performing staff member in relation to your business goals and company values.

For businesses, the holidays are a time to sell, sell, sell. Whether you’re working in the retail sector or have an office job, your boss wants to see the company’s monthly profits soar this time of year. To boost those numbers, why not host a few friendly holiday contests among your employees to motivate them to do their best?

Per Transaction Race

If you manage a grocery store, home improvement center or store with several lanes of cash registers, create a contest for your cashiers. Since they are the customer’s last point of contact, urge the employees to suggest small add-on sales to boost their average transaction dollar amount.

At the end of the day, pull the numbers from the POS system and see who has the highest per transaction average. Post these numbers daily in the office or break room, and at the end of the month, see who wins the race! Offer a cool prize, like a new tablet or substantial gift card to the store, to increase employee enthusiasm.

Close More, Earn More

Does your office work on a commissioned sales basis? If your employees earn a set amount for each sale they complete, offer an added incentive to be as persuasive as possible and close as many deals as they can during their shifts.

First offer an added bonus payment for each sale (a five percent add-on or flat rate cash tip is encouraging), then offer a grand prize to the person who makes the most deals at the end of the month.

Increase Loyalty Members

From grocery and pet stores, to clothing shops and nail salons, several stores off loyalty cards to their customers. Businesses rely on new customers to sign up for these cards, so they can use their contact details to keep them in the loop about on-going marketing efforts.

Hold a contest with your staff to see who can get the most new loyalty card sign-ups in a month. Help them along by offering an added incentive (such as a coupon or percentage off their sale) to each customer who signs up during the special promotional period. The employee who gets the most new loyalty card members should earn a special bonus payment or an extra paid day off during the holiday season.

Speed Dial Contest

If you’re not directly involved with sales, but reach out to customers or do a lot of follow-up with potential customers, track it! This holiday season, hold a contest to see who can make the most points of contact by phone or email. This will encourage your staff to revive old sales leads, work on new opportunities and finally tackle those tough calls they’ve been avoiding.

Then, reward the person who makes the most calls each day, week or month during the holiday season. For small daily prizes, stock up on gift cards to the local coffee shop and favorite lunch place. For larger prizes, consider a weekend getaway at a posh hotel or a new tech device like a fitness tracker or e-reader.

Ready to organize a contest? When you announce the winners, make them feel extra special by presenting a personalized holiday certificate. Paper Direct has dozens of styles and designs for you to browse. Shop today!

The year is rapidly dwindling to an end, which means it’s time to recognize your company’s employees with awards. Rather than giving out the standard Hardest Worker or Most Dedicated titles, have fun with your staff recognition awards this year. End 2015 on a high with these award ideas for end of the year recognition.

Swifty Swift Award

For that one employee that can wear many hats and take on any challenge they encounter with aplomb, the Taylor Swift Award recognizes the most dynamic multi-tasker in your company.

Fury Road Award

The fourth film in the Mad Max cinematic universe, the Fury Road Award goes to that staff member that pushed the metal to the floor and powered through some of your company’s most-challenging tasks this year.

Joy Award

There’s always one person in a group who can keep cool even when emotions are running high. The Pixar movie Inside Out demonstrated just how hard it can be to keep your feelings in-check when faced with anxiety and stress, so this award goes to the employee who always came to work with a level-head and helped other keep their heads in the game even when it was hard to do so.

The #Sqaud

The award can be presented a team or group that meshes well and turns out outstanding work. Squad goals.

Aca-Awesome Award

photo via

This Pitch Perfect 2 pop culture reference can be given to anyone who works hard and has a positive attitude.

Game of Thrones Geek Award

This award goes to that beloved employee that lives for this springtime HBO epic action drama. They’re probably searching for next season’s predictions as we speak. 

Escaped Llama Award

In February, two llamas had fifteen glorious minutes of fame when they escaped their enclosures in Sun City, Arizona. Maybe you have an employee who knocked it out of the park at a major industry event or delivered a deal-sealing presentation this year. Recognize that shining moment with the Escaped Llama Award.

YASSSSS Award

Someone who is. killing. it. all. the. time.

Next Presidential Candidate Award

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Since there are a comically large number of candidates running, why not nominate a hard-working, intelligent leader in your own organization?

Jurassic Award

If you have an old timer that keep producing outstanding work, give them the Jurassic award. Sure to be a blockbuster hit every time. 

Retiring Legend Award

After over twenty hilarious years as the host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, John Stewart retired from his position in September. Your office’s John Stewart is the person who is retiring this year, but will be remembered forever. 

B.B. King Award

A blues legend, B.B. King dedicated his career to music. Give this award to the employee who has been with your business the longest as a way of recognizing their continued years of hard work, loyalty and dedication.

The Top Intern Award

The latest movie The Intern shows how important these workers are for our mental health, production and support. Reward your top-performing intern with an employee recognition award.