Creating a healthy culture of employee recognition is essential to running a business. You want your employees to feel appreciated and empowered to do their best work. Happy employees lead to longer employee retention time, which not only makes for a great work environment but a less costly one to business owners. Studies have shown that employees who express they feel underappreciated are twice as likely to quit within a year. While budget is always a consideration when it comes to proper employee recognition, there are many cost-effective ways to make your workers feel special without breaking your bottom line. We’re sharing a few tips on our blog, so keep reading!

Be Authentic

One of the easiest (and free!) ways a manager can make their employee feel appreciated is to simply tell them. The key to this method is to be authentic in your gratitude before approaching the employee. If you aren’t comfortable with verbally expressing your gratitude for them or their work, then consider writing a short thank you note to recognize their recent achievement. You can even send out an email to the team that recognizes their achievements.

Offer New Opportunities

Nothing will make an employee feel like they are a valuable asset to the team more than making them a key player in the business. One way to do this is to offer professional development or training opportunities to the employee. Offer to sponsor an employee with a development class outside of the office, and it doesn’t always need to be industry related! If your employee has ever expressed interest in a skill outside of their job description, like writing, then send them to a seminar or course. It always helps to have employees who are well versed in many different areas.

Gift Non-Cash Rewards

Cash can sometimes feel like an impersonal way to say thank you to someone you appreciate. Instead, try to come up with an out-of-the-box way to reward your employee that also shows you know their personality. For example, if an employee worked particularly hard to accomplish a project, then gift them with a “date night out” package. This could include a gift card to dinner with two movie theater tickets. Taking the time to go out of your way and put together a personalized gift package like that will really impress your employees and make them feel special.

Public Acknowledgment

It’s one thing to hear praise from your boss behind closed doors, but another to receive recognition in front of all your work peers. When your employee does something well or overcomes a challenge, don’t be afraid to give them a shout out during your next company meeting. It’s even good practice to always start out a meeting by recognizing the accomplishments of at least one employee sitting at the table.

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