The bad news is killing morale

Unemployment is up, gas prices are up.

Hiring is down, and so are wages.

British Airways is asking employees to work for free or loose their jobs.

No matter where you look, the news is scary if you're an employee. The economy, despite hype to the contrary, stills seems to be in freefall.

Have you thought about what that's doing to your company's bottom line? All this doom and gloom isn't inspiring people to work harder. It's making it harder to work.

Across the country and across the board, productivity is down. Accidents on the job are up. Employee commitment is down. Error rates are up.

American businesses have a big problem to deal with.

Yes, this blog is about using cards and other inexpensive gifts to boost morale and help with marketing efforts. But I am not going to tell you that a card is going to solve your business woes. That would be stupid.

But I will tell you that communicating openly and honestly with your employees is absolutely and undeniably essential if your business is going to survive. The same goes for having a dialog with your customers.

You can do it in person, you can do it with cards and notes or you can do it via the web. The point is to do it.

And keep it real. Don't send an employee a "Thanks for the great job" card on Monday and lay them off on Friday. Word will get back to the rest of your staff, and your communication will go from being valuable to destructive.

Same goes for customers. Don't promise deals you can't (or won't) deliver just to get them in the door or on your website. Forget the cheerful birthday card if you're planning on play a "bait and switch" game.

Use your words...written or spoken to describe your actions. So if you've got great employees and plan on hanging on to them, reward them as best you can. Thank them with a card or note or small employee gift. Then hang on to them with both hands.

The word about that will get out, too. And maybe, just maybe, that productivity will edge up a bit, those error rates will drop. It's certainly worth the price of a card and a commitment to find out.