Apart from providing top-quality products and services to its customers, a company needs to treat its employees in a similar way for it to be great. Your colleagues are your greatest asset, as they improve the quality of your products, are in charge of communicating with customers and manage high-level operations.
How To Genuinely Thank Your Employees
Depending on the size of your company and its financial capabilities, you can choose from many ways of showing your appreciation for the work everyone has been putting in. Most of all, you must not forget to share how appreciative you are of both their effort and the quality of work they bring to work on a daily basis.
Here are some ideas to help you express your gratitude. These rewards aren’t costly but are sure to make your employees understand you care of them.
Make your appreciation personal
Sure, everyone would appreciate a gift card, since it’s better to have something than nothing, but that’s definitely not something everyone would appreciate equally. You need to think about something your entire workforce would like.
Some would actually like to be given more responsibility, while others would appreciate a bit more flexibility. There are those who need wellness benefits, while some of their colleagues would like some time off work more than anything. The fact that you provide what they truly desire means you truly care about them.
Create an event
Whether it’s an office party or lunch, it’s bound to be accepted with open arms. Such events are a chance for everyone to let their hair down, relax and have a great time together. You will also have an opportunity to get to know everyone better, in a more informal environment. As an employer, your task is to prepare a toast to let your colleagues know how thankful you are. Also, you need to mingle as much as possible to get to know them on a completely different level.
Treats
Everyone loves a nice treat. Be it a donut, ice-cream or a pizza, an occasional treat will surely surprise your colleagues in a positive way. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive, but the effect is bound to be much greater than the investment of time and money.
Swags
People like promotional material given as freebies. It can be a T-shirt with your logo, a custom made coffee or tea mug, as offered by Planet Mugs for example, or one of the increasingly popular water bottles, that people like to use regularly, especially while working at their office desk.
These tokens of your appreciation are inexpensive, yet very practical, since people use them on a regular basis. So, each time an employee uses your gift, they’ll remember how thankful you are for everything they’ve done.
Provide A Service
There’s a trend in some countries for satisfied employers to arrange for an employee’s car to be washed or home to be cleaned. This will not only save the employee’s money, but also the time, since they wouldn’t have to organise the whole thing and drive their car to the car wash, for example.
Exchange roles
Sometimes, you may offer an outstanding individual an opportunity to take over your position for a day, while you do their job. This can be arranged on a “slow” day, when you don’t expect some major issues to arise, since the experiment can really turn ugly if not managed properly.
However, if done right, this is one of the most powerful gifts you can give, because it shows your appreciation and creates an unforgettable experience for your employee. The fact that you showed your complete trust in them by allowing them to be the boss for a day is also a powerful stimulus and great motivation for other employees to work hard and earn a similar opportunity.
Honestly, Just Show You Care
As you can see, there are many ways in which you can show how grateful you are for everything your team has been doing. Some signs of appreciation are completely free-of-charge and they include kind words in a private conversation or in front of everyone. Others require certain funds, but you can rightfully expect them to be yield one of the best returns on investment, since those receiving such gifts are going to work with more zeal, while others will be motivated to get a similar gift in the future.
The most important thing is to recognize the effort and reward it somehow. If you put some extra effort to personalize the gift, it’s more likely to be appreciated. It will also show that you treat each employee as an individual with different needs.
