employee appreciation Archives - Lone Star Staffing Solutions

09Feb

Show Your Employees You Care

Valentine’s Day is the perfect holiday to show your employees a little extra care. While chocolate and flowers may be the conventional options, there are other, more meaningful ways you can show them how much their work is valued.

Don’t wait until the last minute, and start preparing with one of these employee-focused plans today.

Host An Employee Appreciation Party

You may not have a large budget for employee appreciation, but if you’re looking for a way to show your team that you care, hosting a special party is a grand gesture. From a fancy catered night out to a lunchtime pizza party – a gathering gives employees a chance to relax and recharge. Consider providing complimentary food and drink, or expand to include activities, entertainment, or even fun prizes.

You could even begin a tradition with an annual gathering as a company-wide gift. This will give everyone something to look forward to and may even become a favorite employee perk.

Be sure to send out party details and information in advance so that employees can make schedule changes to prioritize attendance.

Holding it during regular office hours guarantees much more participation as you need to consider those who have outside commitments off-hours.

Note: If you plan on including alcohol, it is your responsibility to ensure everyone has a safe way to return home.

Publicly Recognize Hard Work

It can be easy to focus on the faces in front of the projects but don’t forget the people behind the scenes who help make it all happen. Depending on the size of your company, employees may feel overworked and underappreciated.

Give everyone a chance to shine by publicly acknowledging each employee’s work and dedication. You can do this through a company-wide email, including a personalized thank you on your business social media, or creating a printed kudos list to post in the break room. Be sure to use the names of each person and include quotes from managers or coworkers about the impact of their contribution to the work environment.

Taking the time to celebrate little wins can go a long way towards making employees feel valued and respected.

And, of course, publicly thanking them throughout the year goes a long way.

Send Your Staff a Gift

A personalized gift is a great way to make each employee feel special. Not every option has to be expensive to be impactful. A simple thank you card with a $5 gift certificate to a local coffee shop would bring a smile to any face! Try something more elaborate, like a personalized coffee mug or mouse pad if you have more time and budget.

You could even have a fruit or snack basket delivered to their home address if you’re able to go the extra mile.

A lot of it depends on the size of your company as it can get pricey. For instance, a smaller company has more flexibility, but there are ways to make it happen even with many employees.

The key is to find something meaningful, memorable, and even better if it’s useful. These types of gifts express gratitude while also reinforcing positive company culture. To follow are some ideas to consider:

Coffee mug (not the typical company mug with a logo, but something that says they’re appreciated)
Desk toy (preferably not a noisy option)
Gift certificate for an additional hour at lunch or a “show up an hour late to work” hall pass

Get creative as not all gifts have to cost money.

When you treat your employees well, they return the favor with better attitudes and a higher level of productivity.

At Lone Star Staffing Solutions, we love celebrating the needs of employees and employers every day! Let us manage all the details by providing you with the best cost-effective staffing solution for your unique needs.

25Aug

Please, Make Yourself at Home

Many are welcoming employees back into the office or have at least started making plans to do so. Companies realize that there is no way to make everyone happy. But still, they also recognize the plans, processes, and procedures that they put in place could be critical to their employee satisfaction.

Outside of the health protocols, policies, and Covid-driven planning, how can an employer help with the transition back to the office?

Employers need to take a step back and look at the little things that express to their employees, “Welcome back! Please, make yourself at home!”

Most employees have not only become accustomed to working from home, but they have also been completely spoiled by it! Coming back into the office for many can sound like a COMPLETE DRAG because they don’t feel nearly as comfortable in the office as they do at home.

So short of making every day “Pajama bottoms and house slippers Day,” here are a couple of tips to help your office achieve the comfort of home.

man-teleworking-wearing-shirt-tie-and-pajama-pants

SPACE PEOPLE OUT

Covid is driving a lot of attention to how employees are spaced throughout the office but let’s be honest, nobody wants to feel like they are packed in like sardines anyway. Many homes over the last year-plus, had multiple professionals working from home. Do you think they were voluntarily sitting as close together as they could just because they liked the company? NO! They were spread out on opposite sides of the house, as far away from each other as possible.

Let your employees spread out and, if available, not be forced to be confined to one desk. Set your employees up with room to walk around to take calls without bothering others, work by a window, or even on a porch if they choose. Make the effort to give your employees the space, privacy, and freedom they have grown to love working from home.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF NATURAL LIGHTING

One of the most underappreciated benefits of working from home has been access to natural lighting. If you think about it, natural lighting has been a focal point to residential architecture and design because, people don’t want a cramped, dark, and claustrophobic home. Commercial architecture and design have recently made the use of natural lighting and open features just as much of a priority, following years of the focus being, “how many workers can we cram in here?”

In fact, a survey by MY HR Advisory firm Future Workplace called “The Employee Experience” revealed that employees rank access to natural light and views of the outdoors as the number one attribute of the workplace environment needs.

Promote better employee satisfaction and mental health by simply providing them with access to work areas near natural lighting sources and outdoor views.

LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES

As mentioned earlier, there is no way to please every person by accommodating their “home-sick” work-life. However, employers can gain valuable information by simply listening to their employees to define the differences between their “at-home” and “at-work” environments. An employee survey is a great way to uncover the things that matter and could help make the work-space more comfortable, and in-turn more productive.

Take advantage of bringing your employees back to work on the right foot. These efforts can go a long way to help your employees flourish in an environment that feels more like “HOME SWEET HOME.”