It is the week of Thanksgiving. What does this mean for employees? Does it just mean 2 extra days off this week? During this week all employers should consider thanking their employees. All employers from the giant corporations with tens of thousands of employees to the mom & pop shop should be thankful for their employees not just this week, but throughout each week every year.
Employees want to feel that what they do actually matters. Most people will spend 90,000 hours or 1/3 of their life at work. Whether we like it or not, whether we would prefer to spend more time with our family, helping the community, or just watching TV, we are destined to spend a large portion of our time at work and commuting to work. Many employees feel that their work does not matter. All companies need to change that for their employees.
Let’s look at 5 reasons that employers should be thankful for employees and 5 ways that employers can express their thanks.
5 Reasons that you Should be Thankful for Employees
Employees help ensure that your company is a success
No company can succeed without employees. Even companies in the gig economy like Uber have actual employees (even though they may have lots of workers that are independent contractors). A good employee adds value to the company. They make the company more profitable. Forbes has a great example of this:
In early 1994, Continental Airlines’ culture was toxic. Employee morale was virtually dead and the company went through ten CEOs in ten years’ time. The low morale translated into being ranked last in every measurable airline performance category, and the airline was on the verge of its third bankruptcy. Then Gordon Bethune took over as President in October of 1994.
And further:
By looking inside, at the core of Continental’s culture, and starting with themselves, he transformed the airline from ranking dead last in every customer service ranking to winning more J.D. Powers and Associates awards for Customer Service than any other airline in the world. The stock price rose from $2 a share to over $50 a share and the company was ranked as one of the top 100 companies to work for by Fortune.
Companies succeed in large part because of their employees.
They serve as your ambassadors in the real world
A good employee serves to promote the company and draw more people to the company. They help increase sales, employee retention, and performance even if that is not what they are responsible for. Good employees talk positively about their work and what they do. They are brand ambassadors.
They help you grow and learn
Employees, even the ones that need improvement, help companies learn how to succeed. When an employee fails it is an opportunity for the company to determine whether the policy needs adjusted or if the worker needs more help. By helping employees grow in their skills the company grows too because it has better employees.
New employees bring new ideas to your company
New employees bring new ideas to a company. They come without understanding that things “have always been done this way” at your company, which is a good thing. New employees may question why things are run the way they are which may lead to improvements and changes. They also bring ideas from the prior places that they worked.
Good employees share your mission and want you to succeed
A good employee is invested in your mission and helps you to succeed. Nearly 70% of employees are not engaged at work. According to one report, 76% of workers cited a “positive corporate culture as the single most important quality in an employer.” By hiring the right people (see my earlier post) and engaging them in your mission early on (you should really have a company mission) you have something that most workplaces don’t: employees that care and want you to succeed because they are invested and believe in the company.
Here are 5 Ways that you Can Show Thanks to Your Employees
Reach out when they do not expect it with a note or other word of encouragement
Many employees are only spoken with (formally) when they make a mistake. A good manager will let employees know when they are doing something right.
Do not just meet with them when they are not performing well. Do actual quarterly updates with them.
Quarterly updates are a great way to let employees know when they are succeeding and what they can do to improve. An employee that does not know how they are succeeding and whether they can make improvements is flying blind. Telling an employee what you like allows them to do it consistently for you, and telling them what you dislike allows them the opportunity to reroute their habits.
Give them more responsibility
Give employees the opportunity to do more when they are successful, and not just the work nobody else wants to do. Employees enjoy the opportunity to have ownership over what they are doing, and they appreciate being given a voice in their work- saying what skills they would like to grow and having you (the employer) give them the opportunities needed to grow them. No one wants to be stagnant.
Ask employees for their opinion/help
A good employee is a resource. Ask for their advice on important issues especially something that they had success with. If one employee landed a big client, then you should ask them what they did to do that. See if they are willing to share what makes them successful with other employees.
Step in to help an employee
Many employees put in long hours with little thanks. If you are a manager, then a great way to show thanks to employees and to get a better understanding of what they do is to get your hands dirty and spend some time working directly with them. I’m not talking Undercover Boss, although that’s one way to do it. Go with your employee on a sales call. If an employee is staying late and seems to be overloaded with work, then ask the employee if there is something that you can do to help them. The fact that you noticed their hard work will mean a lot to the employee.
Conclusion
No company can succeed without their employees. Now (and all the time) is a great time to let them know why you appreciate them. It is almost the end of the year. Soon many employees will be thinking about their goals for next year. By showing appreciation now, you can help employees figure out what they want to do for their careers in the coming year.
Oh and obviously all employees like bonuses… but even if that’s not an option, genuine appreciation still goes a long way.
The information provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, then you should speak with a lawyer about your specific issues. Every legal issue is unique. A lawyer can help you with your situation. Reading the blog, contacting me through the site, emailing me or commenting on a post does not create an attorney-client relationship between any reader and me.
The information provided is my own and does not reflect the opinion of my firm or anyone else.