About This Lesson
When you manage a business, having a healthy bottom line is key to your success. If your business doesn't bring in revenue, you likely cannot sustain your business model and continue along the path towards success. Although many companies look at certain factors, such as increasing their marketing strategy, to help aid in their success, often, your first step to securing long-term company success is starting internally with your employees.
Offering employee recognition tools to recognize and reward your employees is a great way to boost employee engagement and keep them satisfied. When you have happy employees, it can result in increased productivity, better customer service, and a boost to your revenue stream, which can give you a healthier bottom line. Here are some ways you may want to consider rewarding your employees for a job well done.
Non-Cash Incentives
If your company has a policy that prevents you from providing your employees with cash gifts, you can still give them a nice gift they can put to good use. Small gift cards to their favorite coffee shop, tickets to a show or a movie are a nice gesture for an employee who's done great work and deserves a little recognition. A small gesture like this can go a long way.
The Gift of Time
We're all busy and know the value of time has in our lives. If your employee did an especially great job, allow them to leave early one day so they can get their evening or weekend started a bit early. If you're a company decision maker, you may want to reevaluate your company's paid time off policy to consider changing it to include more vacation days. some companies, to show their appreciation for their employees, are now instituting unlimited paid time off policies which can be a great company perk if you're looking to attract top talent to your company.
Be Casual
Another one of the employee recognition tools that companies are using is to allow more casual dress days in the office. This can be an especially attractive perk for office settings where employees are required to adhere to a strict dress policy. Something as simple as being allowed to wear jeans to the office on a Friday or not have to wear a coat and tie can really loosen up the work atmosphere and put an extra spring in your employees' steps.
Have a Party
Most companies host holiday parties to show their employees their appreciation after a hard year's work. However, you don't have to wait for the holidays to come around to cut loose and have a great time with your employees, especially if they just wrapped up a big project or successful product launch that's worth celebration. Host an office party after hours and let your employees come with their partners or spouses so everyone can get in on the fun.
Buy Lunch
Buying lunch for your employees will never go out of style as one of the best employee recognition tools. It's an incredibly simple gesture that doesn't take a lot of time or money but can go a long way in making employees feel appreciated. Buy the office lunch one day and watch your employees production levels and overall satisfaction go up all because of this one simple gesture.
Formal Recognition
Everyone likes to be recognized in different ways, so you need to know your employees' personalities before you employ this strategy, but in some instances formal recognition can be a great way to give someone credit for a job well done. Sharing a heartfelt thanks with an entire team verbally, via company-wide email, or in your company's newsletter is a good strategy to ensure your employee's hard work is seen by everyone in your organization.
Keeping your employees happy doesn't have to take a lot of planning, time, or experience. People like being appreciated for a job well done, so anything you can do to show your employees you appreciate them and their hard work means a lot.
