Oak Brook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/24/2012 -- Many human resource managers and business owners overlook the importance of providing employees with motivation and praise. And yet, it has been proven having a strong employee recognition program in place can significantly reduce employee turnover and increase overall morale.

But creating and executing an employee service awards program can be a challenge.

Select-Your-Gift, a leading incentives and rewards company specializing in employee recognition, has found that many organizations do not know where to begin when planning a new employee program. To help, Select-Your-Gift has just announced the release of a step-by-step guide for companies starting a service recognition program. The new Guide to Employee Service Awards is a free, downloadable must-read for human resource managers and business owners. It provides companies with the tools and information needed to plan, define and get internal support to develop an effective service award program using the best practices available today.

Based on Select-Your-Gift’s extensive experience with clients throughout the U.S., the guide starts with a brief history of service awards, reviews current trends and best practices, describes the four different types of service recognition, provides presentation tips and more.

According to Greg Kern, an expert in service awards, joint founder of Select-Your-Gift and the developer of the Guide to Employee Service Awards, the guide also explains the value and benefits of having an employee service recognition program in place.

“In our many years of experience, we have found that when companies begin considering an Employee Service Anniversary Program, they need to understand why its important, what other companies are doing, what works best, how to present awards to employees and how to set their budgets,” Kern stated. “This new eBook gives practical suggestions in each of these areas.”

The guide also helps companies understand which milestones to recognize, what awards are most effective and more. It even covers the sensitive but important topic of whether or not to catch-up recently missed milestones when starting a program.

Whether a company is interested in updating an existing program or learning how to start a new one, the new Guide to Employee Service Awards provides them with the knowledge and tools they need to get started.

For more information or to download the guide, visit http://www.select-your-gift.com/service-awards.htm

About Select-Your-Gift, Inc.
Select-Your-Gift, Inc. is a leading incentives and rewards company, specializing in employee recognition. The company aims to help businesses recognize and retain their employees and features the highest quality Gift Album Presentation Packets for employee incentive or recognition programs, at a discount.