After the seventh snowstorm in seven weeks, people in Denver, Colorado, are beginning to feel that Mother Nature must have been looking for Buffalo or Minneapolis but got lost. Folks here just aren't used to having three feet of snow piled up on their yards, driveways and streets for almost two solid months. Even kids, who usually greet each snowflake with glee, now look at the leftover piles of mush with something akin to disgust. "Is spring ever going to come back?" one despondent ten year old was heard lamenting. (It was easy to hear her; she's my daughter.)

The reason for Denver's collective unhappiness is that the city traditionally enjoys over 300 days of sunshine a year. During the winter months, snow will make an appearance for one day, leave perhaps four or six inches of white, enough to make everything look beautiful, then it will gracefully depart, like the perfect houseguest who never overstays her welcome. The sun returns the next morning and immediately commences housekeeping; the snow is gone from the streets and sidewalks by noon. Not this year. And as a result, Denverites are having difficulty keeping their morale from melting away just like the icicles are supposed to be doing. Business in Denver felt the freeze keenly. Airlines to realtors to retailers to giant offices are feeling the snow's impact on morale. But the good news is that some of these same businesses have added a bit of humor to their workplace to get morale back up to where it should be.

What does more-than-usual snow and the resulting hit out Colorado attitudes this have to do with You? you ask as you sip your non-fat, decaf mocha latte in front of a cozy fireplace while munching on a biscotti. (Oh... I guess that's ME with the mocha.) The point is that businesses in Denver are having to deal with low morale and are forced to think creatively about how to motivate their people in the face of unusual circumstances. If these companies can raise people's sun-deprived attitudes in Denver with some positive, fun techniques, these ideas will work anywhere, even in Buffalo and Minneapolis.

No, these companies are not going to the lengths that apparently GoDaddy.com is doing for its marketing department. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out GoDaddy's commercials that first aired during the last couple of Super Bowls.)

What they are doing is using humor in the workplace to spice things up and give their employees a reason to enjoy coming into the office. For example, one of my consulting clients passes around a "garden gnome." Yes, a ceramic statuette of a sprightly elf sporting a tall pointy hat, beard, chubby cheeks and all, designed to decorate one's vegetable garden. The garden gnome signifies that a person in the office has done an exceptionally good job at something that day. And the something does not necessarily have to be directly related to meeting a sales goal or other measure of business. It can be as simple as smiling at someone in the hallway or cleaning out the office kitchen fridge. When someone at the company is spotted doing something that makes a difference, they are entered into the office gnome pool. Slips of paper detailing the good deeds are put in a box and at a designated time, a winner is chosen. The winner keeps the office gnome on their desk for the day.

I know winning an office gnome for a day doesn't sound as morale-lifting as say, winning a new car, but the point is with this simple gesture the company has invested each of its employees with the responsibility of recognizing those who make a difference in the daily business of the office. By recognizing others who choose to make their workplace more livable and lively, they also begin to take stock of their own attitudes toward work. Employees begin to appreciate that others who invest in "positive attitude capital" raise the value of their workplace for everyone and not just themselves. As the garden gnome travels, it delivers a sense of pride to its temporary owner that translates into positive benefit for the company. That's a lot of work for one small elf!

Different ideas in use by other companies to raise positive attitude capital are both large and small, cheap or more pricey. Some of the counter people at the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles wear clown noses when they first interact with customers to generate laughs. It's hard to be snippy with your DMV agent when she's wearing a bright, red, round bubble on her nose. Another company intentionally brings customers the wrong order when they come in to pick up their product. Usually the order is the exact opposite of what the customer wanted. When the customer begins to get huffy, the company rep laughs and says, "April Fool," even though it's only February. (The woman who does this technique is brilliant in her own way. She is taking responsibility for her own happiness, and is taking steps to make it happen. Can you say the same about yourself?)

Another of my corporate clients has employees who are celebrating their birthday wear a special sign proclaiming their birthday. Because of the sign, other workers know to give the birthday boy or girl a dollar. By the end of the day, the honoree has collected enough money for a nice night out or a weeks worth of mocha lattes. All employees participate gladly because they know when their time comes around, they'll get lots of happy birthday wishes, plus a big wad of cash. Other ideas:

* Monthly visit from the chair massage people
* Monthly visit from a manicurist
* Weekly bagels and donuts
* Random delivery of cookies to certain employees
* Lunch out with the department head
* Free parking for a month
* Bring the kids to work day
* Birthday balloons
* Take-the-afternoon-off reward certificates

These are all simple things companies can do to liven up their worker's days. Large companies often install workout rooms or daycare centers for their employees' benefit. Maybe they'll send a special employee to a week-long spa treatment. But the point is not in how much is spent. What's important is what the employee takes away and then turns around and gives back.

It's all part of the same plan: invest in making the workplace a positive, appreciative place and watch morale go up. As morale improves, turnover drops and productivity rises. Smart companies know that bosses and employees are all in it together. Those that work as a team to raise positive attitude capital can withstand even the longest winter of them all.