Employees are people, too. While that may appear obvious, some employers seem to treat their employees as disposable objects — easy to get, easy to discard, easy to replace.
Well, employees aren’t disposable. Sure, sometimes you have to fire someone who isn’t working out, and other times you’re going to have to lay someone off when the business no longer can sustain him or her. But if you have a lot of employee turnover, you’re wasting valuable time — and resources.
One of the most important ways to retain good employees is by rewarding and recognizing their contributions.
In all companies — especially in small businesses — your company is only as good as your people. No matter how good your product or service, it’s the people in your company who determine whether customers are satisfied, orders are filled, paperwork is filed.
That’s why it’s critical to nurture and reward your employees. But that can be expensive. You may not be able to give raises as quickly as you or your employees would like or deserve. In my company, for instance, this year we had to deal with the bankruptcy of my distributor. That put a huge crimp in our bottom line.
Fortunately, over the years, I’ve come up with a number of fun or meaningful ways to reward employees that don’t cost a lot of money:
Birthdays. I’ve always thought birthdays are important, so every one of my employees gets their birthday as a paid day off. If it falls on a weekend (or they have to work, such as when their birthday falls during a trade show), they get to take their birthday on another day. And we still recognize birthdays in the office. People want to feel special on “their day.”
Well days. Years ago, when I was a young employee and needed a day off but didn’t want to use up my vacation time, once or twice I called in “sick.” But you know what happened? The guilt from lying always made me actually feel sick. I decided that when I became a boss, I wouldn’t make my employees go through the lie.
Instead, in my company, I established “well days.” If something is going really right in your life — you’ve fallen in love, it’s your anniversary, your child is getting an award or your best friend is visiting from out of town — an employee can “call in well.”
Employee of the Week. We’ve got a very small staff, so when I named someone “employee of the week” many years ago, it seemed almost humorous. But my employee was really proud of the honor, so the idea caught on. We don’t do this every week — not even every month — but once in a while an employee will do something special, and I’ll name them (or another employee will nominate them) as “Employee of the Week.” They get a candy bar, a round of applause and an e-mail, and I send copies of the e-mail to their family members. You’d be surprised at how even this little recognition can make someone feel special.
Extra time off. This year, due to our distributor’s bankruptcy, I couldn’t afford annual raises. Instead, employees each got an extra week of vacation. This showed my commitment to them even though the budget was tight.
Food. It’s amazing how much people like free food. My nephew was an intern at a big company this summer, and he constantly raved about the free lattes and soft drinks there. He’s not alone; free food enhances employee morale. You don’t have to provide free food regularly, but when anything special happens (and for birthdays, too!) an easy, inexpensive way to celebrate is to bring in food or take the staff to lunch.
Flexibility. One of the most valued perks for an employee is some amount of flexibility in their work schedule, whether it’s regularly starting work a half hour later to get a child to school or occasionally leaving a little early to take care of another need. That kind of understanding builds employee loyalty.
Saying thank you. The least expensive thing you can do is to remember to thank your employees. Everyone wants to be recognized and appreciated.
Rhonda Abrams is the author of “Six-Week Start-Up” and “What Business Should I Start?”