Do you want to keep your employees engaged, enthusiastic and motivated without adding to the budget? but you’re feeling more miserly than Scrooge McDuck?
Well, fear not, we here at CAREERXCHANGE have a few tips designed to keep your employees happy which we’ve developed and practice here at CAREERXCHANGE®.
Show some gratitude and appreciation
Nothing goes further (and costs you less) than simply showing a little appreciation, and there are many ways that a person in management can show gratitude to his or her team.
First, the most obvious: regularly tell your workers that they are doing a good job and their work is appreciated not only by yourself, but the entire company. In addition to regular ‘attaboys,’ make it a point to show appreciation for little things that get done, but often go unnoticed. Some acts of housekeeping and organization don’t need to be done, but when somebody does them make sure you recognize it publicly.
Workers often make personal sacrifices in order to help the company and often these sacrifices are felt by their family members. Sending calls or notes or appreciation to spouses and family member shows you’re thinking outside the confines of the office walls, and will pay huge dividends down the road.
Consider making employees feel like their contributions are appreciated by holding regular meetings or lunches that include all levels of staff. These can be fun bonding exercises where the management serves workers lunch, or they can be more serious brainstorming sessions designed to make improvements. Creative ideas from these sessions should be followed up on and rewarded or recognized if they yield significant results.
Keep workers informed, knowledgeable
Other nonmaterial ways to keep employees enthusiastic and motivated include sharing information and knowledge.
One of the simplest ways to do this is to hold regular informative employee meetings. If the company is small enough, try to get everyone to attend. These get-togethers are particularly important if changes are being made at the company.
Another way to keep employees in the loop is to start a company newsletter that announces what’s been going on and any important events in employee’s lives, like a wedding or new baby. Employees should be invited to contribute or even help publish it.
If an employee or group of employees is particularly passionate about an interesting part of their job, allow them to hold a brief seminar on the topic. If it’s business related, allow them to attend a conference or event and report back to share any highlights.
Make the workplace into a community
Another rewarding way to boost enthusiasm is to work on making your workplace into more of a community. A sense of community means that people will have each other’s backs when the going gets rough. They’ll also be able to share in the comradery during happy times.
Ways to build a community at work include starting a recipe exchange, a book club or a “Biggest Loser Contest” – complete with weight-loss tips and a weekly weigh in. This also helps to promote wellness in the workplace, which in turn increases productivity.
No doubt, you’ll probably have to open up the wallet at some point and offer some kind of material reward to overachievers on staff, but non-monetary recognition can be just as powerful if used correctly.
Contact CAREERXCHANGE® for a comprehensive list of 30 non-monetary reward ideas on keeping your workforce satisfied and happy.