If you are a business owner, it is important to keep your employees in mind when running your business. Your employees are just as important as your customers and in many cases; they act as the ambassadors of your business more than you do. You may be busy with other tasks and your employees are on the front lines interacting with customers. As the first people your customers deal with, it is important that your employees act professionally and compassionately.
If your employees are unhappy, it will translate through their attitudes when they are dealing with clients. It does not take a lot to keep an employee happy. You need to give them a fair wage for their services, give them comfortable working conditions and occasionally recognize their hard work and loyalty to your company. There are several ways to give recognition to an outstanding employee. You can honor them with a once in a lifetime experience like a trip somewhere. If you have someone who is a high achiever, consider scratching a few things off their bucket lists and sending them on a sports vacation. Imagine how exciting it would be for your number one salesperson to go to the Super Bowl or All Star Game as a reward for their hard work.
Another option for rewarding employees is with gift certificates. It might be hard to know exactly what to give several employees all at once, so if you need to recognize the efforts of several people, use gift cards. This is also a great idea for the holiday season when you want to end the year acknowledging how much the people who work for you mean to the company.
Parties are another great way to say thanks. Many business owners bring employees together for lavish celebrations for special occasions and celebrations. If your company has met its sales goals or you have just planned and executed a major event, it is cause for celebration. Throw a bash for those who worked together to make sure things turned out great. If you want to keep things a little smaller than a full-blown party, consider taking your employees out to lunch or sending them out alone with the company card.
Vacation time is another great way to say thanks. Most companies offer vacation time based on the number of years employees have worked for a company. However, you can also offer a chance to earn extra vacation hours through the accomplishment of certain goals. Paid time off is very motivating.
Finally, one of the most time-tested and best awards for accomplishing a lot at work is a promotion. If an employee excels at what they do, give them more responsibility. If you have a small company and there is not a lot of room to move up the corporate ladder, design a new position for them. It may not mean leaving one job and going to the next, but you can give them more responsibility in their current job and a raise in pay.
