Team retention is imperative. When you have great employees, you need to recognize them.
When it comes time for the office to together a marketing budget for the upcoming year, consider allocating some of the funds for team recognition. The typical marketing budget is about 2% of collections based on production. Use this wisely. Pull reports showing your referral base. Think about your projected gift ideas and their costs. Keep off-season purchases in mind to try and save money.
Now, once you’ve set a budget, calculate your team numbers and plan for monthly recognition. Please note, this doesn’t need to be extravagant. I tend to follow the National Days Calendar. The nice thing about this is that the types of days celebrated change yearly, so there are always a variety of fun opportunities to celebrate.
Here are a few of my favorite examples and suggestions:
January 20—National Cheese Lover’s Day: Make a charcuterie board
February 9—National Pizza Day: Have a lunchtime pizza party
March 12—National Plant a Flower Day: Give flower seed packets
April 18—National Animal Cracker Day: “This place would be a zoo without you!”
May 26—National Paper Airplane Day: Have a paper airplane competition
June 10—National Iced Tea Day: “You are tea-riffic!”
July 10—National Strawberry Shortcake Day: “You take the cake!”
August 10—National S'mores Day: “The world needs s’more people like you!“
September 6—National Read a Book Day: Gift cards to a bookstore
October 5—National Do Something Nice Day: A minty treat saying “Thank you for your commit-mint!”
November 6—National Nacho Day: “Nacho average staff!“
December 13—National Hot Cocoa Day: Hand out hot cocoa in to-go containers at the end of the day
All of these examples are small tokens of appreciation that go a long way with your staff. It’s important to put in the effort to show your team how much you appreciate them.
Related reading:
- Wise-up Wednesday from Zane Benefits: 5 easy employee retention ideas to start now
- Keep your team happy for the long haul
- Dental team pick-me-ups during these difficult times
Some may think it’s silly when I create a scavenger hunt or send them home with an unexpected treat, but having my team be positive, hardworking, charismatic, and happy to come to work every day makes these small tokens well worth it.
Invest in your team as you invest in your referrals. Keep in mind, these special days can also be shared with them—they’ll appreciate the fun interaction as well!
