We have worked diligently on this. We have had an ice cream social, providing banana splits for everyone, discount tickets for a company night at the baseball game and indoor hockey (at no cost to the company), supporting fundraisers for local charities that have provided support to one or more of our employees, and we're planning NFL Kickoff Day (employees can dress down if they wear a football jersey and we'll provide snacks and an on-line trivia contest with token prizes. We started a workforce enhancement committee with volunteers from various departments to organize these events and hold 50/50 raffles to fund them. The responses have been very positive.

An informal recognition program may also help the individuals that are truly working hard get a little direct appreciation from their boss. We currently have an On the Spot Award for $50. A supervisor can nominate an employee at any given time (if approved by management) and they get $50 cash along with a Certificate describing the individual's accomplishment.

Here is one of my favorite ideas I got from a training class I was in. Create little cards (business card size) that say something like "You did great!" and pass them out whenever you catch someone doing something good. The kicker is that the card should have a little message on it that says you must pass it on within 72 hours. Out of curiosity, I'd just like to see how long it would take something like that to get around.