It’s always a good idea to help employees stay motivated, and there are many things you can do besides the traditional cash bonus. Here are twelve ideas that cost little yet go a long way with employees, contractors, and other business associates.
1. Compressed workweek.
Employees love getting Friday afternoon off, or even a full day a week. Providing weekday time off cuts absenteeism since the employee has a window to run errands that need to be done during business hours.
2. Social activities.
Create social events that become a tradition in your company. The employees will look forward to them. If you’re not sure what to do, consider the hobbies of your employees, plan an event based on a holiday or anniversary, or simply have a meal out.
A business owner who offers training classes can have movie showings in their training rooms complete with popcorn on Wednesday evenings. The cost of the movie and popcorn is minimal compared to the fun everyone will have.
3. Telecommute part-time.
If possible, consider allowing employees to work from home one day a week. They love the flexibility, often get more done without constant interruptions, and save road time.
4. Customized recognition.
Every employee likes to be recognized for a job well done, but each may differ in exactly how the recognition is expressed. Instead of guessing, ask at the time the employee is onboarded whether they prefer gift certificates, time off, sports event tickets, cash, or public recognition.
5. Time off.
Offer a creative twist to holiday pay. Instead of the standard holidays, allow employees to have their birthday or job anniversary as paid time off. Consider also providing pay while philanthropic employees volunteer their time and talents to nonprofits.
6. Education.
Education is always a great perk. Here are some ideas along those lines:
- Cross-train employees on job duties other employees do so you have a deeper bench of knowledge to pull from.
- Consider reimbursing for professional memberships or allowing employees to attend professional association events.
- Bring in an instructor who can teach self-defense.
- Have on-site fitness yoga classes.
- Encourage employees whose first language is not English to take English as a second language or accent reduction classes.
- Send employees to learn a foreign language.
- Bring in a teacher for CPR and first aid training.
7. Stress reduction.
Who isn’t stressed out? Treat employees to a massage, or bring in an instructor who can teach stress-reduction techniques like meditation.
8. Casual dress.
On days with no client appointments or perhaps every Friday, offer a casual dress day. It cuts down on dry cleaning, and employees are more relaxed.
9. Errand concierge services.
Cut down on absenteeism and long lunch hours by bringing the errands to the employees. I suspect local businesses would love the business. Find a nearby dry cleaner that can pick up onsite and maybe even throw in a discount. Do the same for car wash services, take-home meals from a caterer or local restaurant, prescription refills, postal services, banking, and more.
10. Transportation.
Offer a subsidy for carpooling, public transit subsidy, or purchasing a hybrid car.
11. Discounts on products and services.
Provide discounts on your services or merchandise for employees.
Try one or more of these eleven employee perks to rev up the motivation on your team.
How much is the average client worth to your business? Not just per project or even per year, but for the lifetime of your business. Calculating the lifetime value of a client is an eye-opening exercise I recommend to every small business owner.
Have you ever gone through your list of things to do and looked for the easiest thing to knock out first? Have you ever been moody when you’ve looked through your tasks and said to yourself, “I don’t feel like doing that one, that one, or that one?” Do you have some items on your to do list that have been there for a while (like months)?
The least expensive way for just about any business to get new business is through referrals. Yet many business owners simply wait for referrals to show up while shelling out big marketing dollars on other channels. One opportunity that many businesses have, then, is to become more proactive about getting referrals. The question is how to do that most effectively, and here are four tips for your consideration.
Is your revenue increasing or decreasing every year? There are many factors that can cause your revenue to slide, and one of them I’d like to introduce is your opportunity number.
As our businesses grow and our schedules fill with serving clients, it’s easy to overlook how our personal financial needs might have changed. Here are eight best-practice tips of millionaire business owners and how they personally protect their wealth.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Happy Hour, but have you heard about Power Hour? Power Hour is something you should be doing at least once a week during your working day. It’s the time that you carve out of your busy schedule to do the highest-payback tasks for your business. These include items like strategic planning, product or service development, deal-making, and leveraged revenue-building activities.
We never think it will happen to us. Becoming a victim of fraud is a horrible experience. It can wreak financial damage, sometimes significant enough to put us out of business. It’s a time-consuming business disruption which often involves accountants, lawyers, credit bureaus, bank executives, and IRS and state tax agents (our favorite people, right?). Worst of all, it’s a betrayal by one or more fellow human beings, sometimes relatives; an intimate violation that can leave us emotionally scarred for years.
If you could wave a magic wand and work with any client you wanted in 2012, who would they be and what would your business look like? It’s a fun exercise to think about right as we start a new year.
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