Olympic Fever

The 2012 summer Olympics begin in less than 1 day. The race for the gold, silver and bronze began months and even years ago for many of these athletes. Olympians throughout the years have inspired patriotism and achievement in more than just sports. Whether they compete in Judo, swimming or gymnastics, these top performers from around the world deserve to be rewarded. The olive wreath was the prize for the winner at the Ancient Olympic Games. It was an olive branch, of the wild-olive tree that grew at Olympia, intertwined to form a circle or a horse-shoe. From 241 participants representing 14 nations in 1896, the Games have grown to about 10,500 competitors from 204 countries at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

How can you translate these inspirational achievements into a reward system for your business?

Games and Rewards are an amazing way to creatively team build and network for both adults and children.

Indoor Games:

• Paper plane folding and throwing
• Hoopla
• Obstacle course
• Discus (using paper plates)
• Beanbag Toss
• Hallway Dash

Of course no Olympic Games can be complete without awarding medals and a closing ceremony. If possible, find some boxes so that medal winners can stand high to get their applause! Plan to give everyone a medal for something.

Building Confidence in Girls

Building self-confidence in girls can be a challenging but rewarding task. In today's society, there is so much in the media that takes away from a girl's self-esteem. Perfect looking models on every magazine cover and almost every Internet pop-up can cause a young girl to compare herself to them unfavorably. Building self-confidence will help girls do better in school and will also prepare them for success as an adult. It can also lessen the chance of eating disorders and help girls develop healthy relationships with others.

Why are sports for girls so important?

Though exercise and good health are often sited as the main goal for involving girls in sports the most important effect of girls in sports is CONFIDENCE.

Girl athletes have one of the lowest rates of tobacco use among any sector of the high-school population; they are less likely to abuse drugs; they are less likely to get pregnant, more likely to delay their first sexual experience, and have, on average, fewer sexual partners than girls who do not participate in sports. In addition, girls derive benefits from athletics that are difficult to measure objectively, such as confidence and self-esteem; they score higher on tests designed to gauge positive body image.

It largely doesn't matter what sport girls become involved in, from karate to football, hockey or cycling, as long as we recognize the value of building confidence in girls and reward them. Self-confidence and recognition of participation and achievements goes a long way to achieving a positive self image.

As Agnus Berenato, head women’s basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh says, “The most important lesson playing sports can teach a young girl is this: Whatever happens to you on the court, or on the field, or in the pool; the same thing will happen to you in real life. You think the coach is not fair; you’re going to think your parents are not fair. You think the ref made a bad call; you’ll think your teacher made a mistake. But, through sports, you can learn life-long coping skills. You persevere – you get knocked down – but you get back on your feet and strive to achieve.”
Aran Awards & Engraving is happy to support girls sports in Hamilton, Burlington and Stoney Creek. Check out all the amazing ways you can reward and inspire your athletes at aranawards.com

Why Reward or Recognize?

”We will receive not what we idly wish for but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service.” --Earl Nightingale

 Recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people. Recognition is a communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for your business, whether you are a sports team, club or corporation. When you recognize people effectively, you reinforce, with your chosen means of recognition, the actions and behaviors you most want to see people repeat.

Managers ask, “Why should I recognize or thank him? He’s just doing his job.”  Times have changed dramatically. Employees and valuable team members can no longer be treated like machines. They come at a high price and can cost as much to replace. Workers expect to be valued as human beings. Today, the rewarding of employees is done as a partnership between the business and its employees

There are as many different rewards as there are people. These are a few examples of special ways to express thank you:

• Performance Awards - great for teams, sports, or corporations on completion of a task or work project - a small plaque or simple desk award with your business name as well as the employee's name to reinforce their contribution and their value to you
• Special Act or Service Award - an outstanding volunteer position, someone or group that went over and above with customer service, special attention or community service on behalf of your business - something as simple as a water bottle with your business name on it or a custom engraved crystal paperweight
• Length of Service Recognition - an employee, volunteer or member of your team that has been with your business an exception amount of time - the perfect gift for this would be a custom engraved clock

Not every goal or performance  requires an award - but every person effectively working towards that goal and their performance requires recognition.
Here are some low cost suggestions:

1. Take time to personally thank employees for doing a good job. Do it regularly, specifically and sincerely.
2. Vary your approach when thanking employees. Some efforts merit formal letters of recognition with a copy to the employee’s file. For others, a timely and specific e-mail message can be effective. A few sincere words of thanks delivered in person is almost always appreciated.
3. Low-key recognition activities can be very effective. Take a few minutes during a staff meeting to recognize a successful project and present the participants with an appropriate token such as a certificate, a "congratulations" cake, or their favorite candy bar.
4. When someone has been successful, offer them a chance to teach others what they did. This will allow the unit to learn from the successful experience, and will acknowledge the person’s unique contribution to the work.
5. Create a traveling trophy to be passed among team members whenever someone successfully completes a difficult task.

Remember to check out all the great ideas for rewarding your employees, volunteers, team members and teammates at aranawards.com