We find that appreciation has significantly decreased our turnover rate in a high turnover industry. It has increased communication, productivity, and efficiency because our team feels appreciated and therefore dedicated to the company. Celebration in the workplace can be a tool for recruitment, employee retention and even marketing.
Celebration can be defined in a few ways. Something as simple as verbally expressing appreciation, taking your employees to lunch or acknowledging their birthday can have beneficial effects. Another fantastic way to build company culture is by celebrating milestones such as company anniversaries and achievements.
Recruitment seems like an impossible task, as you may have experienced. Filtering candidates is hard enough if you can even find them! This is where celebration comes in. When candidates review your social media presence and website and see employees having fun their attention will instantly be captured. I am willing to bet that applications and general interest will increase if your company appears to be healthy with a decent work/life balance.
Capturing the interest of candidates in the current job market requires maximum effort but so does employee retention. Often, this gets swept under the rug due to other priorities or responsibilities. However, it is incredibly important and can be managed partly by using celebration. In general, when employees feel supported or valued they will stay longer, of course. But how do we accomplish this? Make daily life fun!
Sometimes certain industries are inherently more “fun”, such as the events industry, but even a box manufacturing company can have a creative and fun environment. Here are some suggestions for celebration: leave notes or messages for high performing employees congratulating them, celebrate milestones such as hitting a quota or goal of some kind, provide food for no reason at all. Consistency is key. This feeling of being appreciated can sometimes become more important in the employees’ mind than their wage.
Not only does celebration aid in the constant retention struggle, it will also contribute to higher performance in marketing efforts. Posting about parties, happy hours, lunches, anniversaries, etc. that have taken place will allow you the chance to influence your consumers about more of your products and services in an indirect way. For example, if you own a catering company, throw a brunch showcasing the latest trends in quiche and pastries. This will allow a personal experience and encourage word-of-mouth referrals which have the highest success rate. Your employees will also appreciate your generosity and respect will follow. Remember not to over-do it. Employees can also become reliant on this and perhaps take these actions for granted.
It may seem like an enormous task to plan a party or track birthdays but the collateral beauty is worth the extra effort.
One easy way to keep track is with a social calendar! You can keep a digital one folks have access to and/or post it somewhere central where everyone can see what is coming up that month. Need ideas? Check out our checklist!
