December has hit, and everybody is getting into the swing of the season. “Jingle Bells,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” and “Let it Snow” are playing on repeat in stores throughout the land, and every commercial break features the latest must-have toy.
You can’t turn on the radio without hearing a carol or a jingle. It’s a time for giving and sharing, and that includes the office. The company party is just a few weeks away, and the Christmas bonuses are already on the payroll.
All that remains is to write your speech thanking everybody for all the hard work over the last 12 months, but should you really be thanking your team just once a year?
Give All Year Round
Once a year is the “set it and forget it” mentality; it won’t work for your content and thought-leadership strategies, and it won’t work for employee morale, either. You need to show people you care 365 days of the year to keep your staff happy and engaged (and to attract the brightest new talent).
The Christmas bonus is the corporate staple, but is that money really well spent? If it’s rolled into the paycheck, chances are your employees have spent it before they even realize it’s there. Maybe it’s time to explore other options for expressing gratitude to your staff.
Some companies have gone to the other extreme by overloading employees with freebies and perks. They offer climbing walls, basketball courts, and a few places even have slides for employees to travel between floors without the hassle of waiting for the elevator.
These perks might be the toast of BuzzFeed, but they aren’t necessary to keep your top talent happy, and for most businesses, they simply aren’t realistic.
Here are six more realistic ways to keep your team fresh and motivated throughout the year:
1. Make your employees’ lives easier.
We don’t live in the ‘50s, and there are very few households out there with only one breadwinner. Everybody works today, and if you throw in a couple of kids, life starts to get hectic. Between the 9-to-5 and the desire to spend more time with the kids stands one major obstacle: chores.
At my company, one way we like to show our appreciation is by paying to have all of our employees’ homes cleaned every two weeks. It isn’t cheap, but the impact is incredible. It takes a real weight off our employees’ minds, and helps ensure they make every Little League game without having to sacrifice sleep to cram everything in.
2. Find a flexible work-life balance.
Work might be easier when everybody is in the same place at the same time, but you need to recognize that life isn’t that rigid. People need the flexibility to balance their responsibilities at work and their responsibilities at home.
Our staff never needs to worry about taking a day off to take kids to the doctor. All it takes is a phone call, and we never make them feel ashamed. When it comes to making up time, they either work longer hours later in the week or during an insanely busy time for the business.
Offering that flexibility to your employees relieves the burden of stress, and their gratitude will show in the work they produce and the loyalty they show you.
3. Get the jet-set mentality.
There’s no better way to get your team to bond and feel appreciated than taking them on a trip somewhere exotic. I’m not talking about the kind of survivalist camping trips that serve as the introduction to horror movies, rather a genuine holiday.
One of my clients, John Lauer, took his whole staff (and their significant others) to Mexico for five days, and it was a massive success. He doesn’t run some trendy tech startup where everybody wears hoodies; he runs an irrigation company. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; everybody appreciates the opportunity to travel.
4. Give gifts, not money.
Money is nice, but it disappears fast. Gifts have a far longer life expectancy. I’m not talking about swag. If the gift has your company logo emblazoned on the front, then it’s not really a gift — it’s a promotional item.
A gift should be all about the employee. One of my old favorites is a set of high-quality knives from a brand like Cutco. You don’t have to be a foodie to appreciate this gift. Even people who cook for necessity need knives, and a good set makes all the difference.
I like to engrave the recipient’s name on the blade, too. It makes the gift a little bit more personal, and means it could become a family heirloom to be passed down through the generations. So ditch your logo and our presidents’ faces. A good gift focuses on the employee.
5. Surprise them monthly.
The grand gifts are great gestures, but sometimes it’s best to practice small-but-regular giving. One way to do this is through monthly subscriptions. My buddy John Hall wrote a great article about how this can help forge strong relations with clients, but the same principle applies to employees, too.
A subscription to Birchbox or the Dollar Shave Club takes the hassle out of buying beauty products and razors, and if you match the subscription to the person, you’ll be sure to foster appreciation.
6. Include employee spouses.
Anyone who is married or in a relationship knows how important a partner is, and you have to recognize this, too. Sometimes, the person who gets the most stress from working for you isn’t your employee, but his or her spouse.
Include spouses when you give gifts, take trips, and offer perks. Your employee’s family will feel a little bit better about working for you, and who knows — the husband of Jane in accounting might just be the perfect future HR employee.
Everybody expects an employer to show appreciation around the holidays, but by going above and beyond, you can really show your staff that you care. The year-round approach will keep morale high, and it might just turn your team into your best recruitment strategy, too.