The power of a simple “Thank you” or a well timed gift. It doesn’t take much to boost the loyalty and motivation of your staff. You just need to pay attention to who they are as human beings, and show you think of them as more than just “Human Resources”.
I didn’t have a lot of money for entertainment when I worked in HR and had young kids. The General Sales Manager in my company came up to me late one afternoon when all his staff had left. He had two free tickets to a Canucks game in prime seats. His client couldn’t go and he wanted to GIVE them to me. AGH!!! I was ecstatic … and heartbroken. I had to explain to him that I would have been all over those tickets but I had two kids and they’d never forgive me if I took one and not the other.
A few weeks later, he popped in to see me and handed me four Canucks tickets in prime seating for the last game of regular season … against the Calgary Flames! He remembered!! He singled me out and hoarded those free tickets away from his sales reps to give to me.
Those tickets meant more to me than a $10/hour raise. They were more than a gift. They were a sign that I mattered. That gift was priceless.
Get to know your team members. Find out
- what they like to do in their spare time,
- what they really love but would never buy for themselves,
- who the important people are in their lives.
Giving a gift that shows you know them and you care about them as a person, will go much further than a small cash bonus or a staff party they can’t really “party” … see How to Survive the Office Christmas Party
