Recently, I tweeted about how my last employer had a weird idea of employee appreciation. Once a year, we had an “Employee Appreciation Week.” During that week, the company had several types of activities that were supposed to show us how much they appreciated their slaves  workers. Want to hear some of the fun stuff? We had to take some of our paid leave to go to the activities. We basically had to pay for our own recognition program. Yippee. Well, recently I had the opportunity to speak with Cori from Baudville. They are turning employee recognition on its ear, and I couldn't be happier to hear it.

Instead of those silly “appreciation weeks” or something done whenever the manager happens to remember the workers, Baudville promotes small, continuous feedback. And they don’t just want to provide the little signs of appreciation and feedback, but they also want to “introduce some levity that the workplace desperately needs right now.” I agree wholeheartedly. Smiling can help your career, so get started!

The first time I saw the funny and free print-and-posts was the first time I ever even heard of Baudville. I instantly fell in love. As a guy who likes to have fun and wants to reward employees often for performing well, this place is my kind of store! How would you feel if your manager dropped a card on your desk right after you finished a big, stressful project? I know that it would be a small gesture, but at the right time (and with a little humor), it could be the just the thing! We all need something to make work happy.

Cori said that Baudville is “helping managers say what they need to say” when they’re otherwise too busy to stop and thank someone for performing well. That is one of my biggest pet peeves. Most people never get any feedback until it’s review time, and they’re usually surprised at the sudden feedback after months of nothing at all! The Baudville team has been working to spread their positivity outside the walls of their headquarters by utilizing the new blog and their Twitter account. You can find them tweeting on the hashtag #positivemojo throughout the day.

I asked Cori if there was anything specific that she wanted everyone to know, and she said, “We want the rest of the world to have as much fun at work as we do here at Baudville.” So, now you know, they aren’t faking it outside and treating people differently inside. They walk the walk. They talk the talk. Now go out there and make someone smile!