CHOCOLATES ON THE DESK. Did you know that last week was Random Acts of Kindness Week? Bob asks, "What about the other 51 weeks?"

It's nice to know there's a week set aside to practice random acts of kindness. It falls on the week of Valentine's Day, which is a nice extension of the meaning of Valentine's Day, and was first introduced in 2000. This year even the Super Bowl got into the act.

But way before there was an "official" Random Acts of Kindness Week, at Shamrock we were practicing our own random acts of kindness, including employee-managed recognition programs with rewards and incentives. Like random acts of kindness, the payoff of a consistent recognition program is far greater for the giver than the gift itself. Above all, recognition in the workplace encourages employee engagement. Essentially, employee engagement makes for happier employees in a happier workplace.

Employee engagement is a measure of how connected an employee feels with co-workers, and how connected they feel with their company's mission and values. Engaged employees are motivated to succeed, challenged to do better by their peers and take that next step to go beyond average to exceptional performance.

A good recognition program will provide employees with short-term rewards; a great recognition program will engage employees by building a positive culture of fellowship within the organization using awards that are tied to your company values.

Shamrock's company values are based on an entrepreneurial spirit, family values, and teamwork. These values are tied to our Rockin' Rewards program, which was introduced in 2012. Employees receive nominations from other employees for exceeding expectations in a variety of business capacities. Points are awarded in various categories and earned points may be used immediately to purchase items from a catalog, or saved for something as significant as a fully-paid cruise. From its beginning Rockin' Rewards has been popular. It keeps people incentivized to perform, it's fun, easy to manage, and it continually reinforces our corporate values.

Another popular employee recognition program honors employees who have been with Shamrock for one year, and we continue to recognize their value in additional five-year increments.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT...

It would be nice if we all could keep the spirit of Random Acts of Kindness Week alive every day of the year. Actually, it would be very easy to do so, by acknowledging a job well done by placing a small, anonymous gift, like a chocolate, on someone's desk, or just uttering two words -- "thank you."