Business leaders need to understand that giving back to their employees is a huge benefit. Giving back to the people that work for you will show them you care. It demonstrates to your workers that you are actively aware of everything they do for your company, and you want to show your appreciation.
Too many business owners believe that a salary and a 401k pension plan are enough to show their appreciation. This simply is not true. You need to have ideas in place that allow you to continuously give back to the people that make your business a success. In this article, we’ll discuss why giving back is important, and how you can do it. More specifically, you’ll see the right way to do this, along with a common thing leaders do that won’t have the desired effect.
Why do you need to give back?
As a business owner, you can’t afford to constantly chop and change your team. Did you know that losing a single employee can cost tens of thousands of dollars for your company? You have to account for the costs of hiring and onboarding a replacement, plus the money you lose by not having a complete team of people. If lots of employees leave throughout the year, you can multiply your losses and be in a really precarious situation.
Why is this relevant to the topic? Well, one study found that 66% of employees quit their jobs because of a lack of appreciation. More often than not, an employee would feel underappreciated if they’re getting very little back from their employer. They work themselves to the ground for the company, seeing nothing in return. It makes them feel as though they’re not valued, so they’re likely to leave for a company that does appreciate them.
In short, giving back to your employees can help you retain them for longer. This reduces your turnover rate and ensures your business can thrive with a consistent team at the helm.
What is the wrong way to give back to your employees?
You can read the above section and start coming up with ideas to give back to your team. Unfortunately, the worst leaders will look for the quickest, cheapest, and easiest solutions. This tends to mean they give their employees trivial things that hold no real value.
For example, they hand out branded clothing or products to employees for free. Wow, what a massive reward this is for their hard work! Sure, it’s nice to get free things, but it’s a kick in the teeth to work hard and receive pretty basic stuff in return.
Instead, you need to take a much better approach!
What is the right way to give back to your employees?
The correct thing to do is provide your employees with valuable benefits. Give them things that will genuinely improve their life in some way or another, and that showcase you are actually making an effort to showcase your appreciation.
By all means, you can still add the little trivial things in as well, as a sort of extra bonus. Things like printed products or stickers are fun for your employees to receive, but only if they’re also getting more substantial stuff.
Think about how you can show your appreciation for your workers and everything that they do. A very obvious idea is to provide bonuses for good work. It gives your employees a reason to work harder as they know that the more money the business makes, the bigger their bonuses will be!
Furthermore, think about other little gifts or benefits you can hand out. For instance, giving employees an extra paid day off work is a brilliant way of showing you care. You can stroll in one morning, tell them you’re proud of the hard work they’re putting in, and then give them the Friday off. It lets them enjoy an elongated weekend, which is great for helping them relax and de-stress. Speaking of which, handing out massage vouchers or spa vouchers will also be great ways to give back. Again, you are thinking about their physical and mental well-being, giving them access to some nice treatments.
To summarize, you need to give back to your employees to retain their loyalty for as long as possible, cultivating a good workplace. You should not provide trivial bonuses or gifts that don’t serve a purpose other than to make it look like you care. Focus on delivering actual benefits that your employees will value – put some effort into this! After all, they are the ones working around the clock to keep your company afloat.