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Harnessing the energy and effort of your employees is one of the best ways to increase your profits without adding to your costs. You should always be looking to develop an office culture where employees feel recognized and rewarded for their efforts. This will often boost overall productivity and improve morale in the office. Learn how to start employee of the month awards that will motivate and celebrate hard workers in your office.

Set criteria for evaluating employees

Although you could arbitrarily choose your employee of the month, everyone will be much more motivated if they see that the award consistently goes to the hardest working employee who has contributed the most to the company that month. Therefore, you’ll want to set some objective criteria to evaluate people. These could include special projects completed, value of innovative ideas, overall positive attitude in the workplace, supervisor recommendations, or peer nominations.

Create compelling incentives

Your employees will be much more likely to change their work habits as a result of the program if you offer incentives that they view as worthwhile. For example, you may offer a free lunch out with the boss, a “sleep in” day where the employee can come to work an hour late but get paid for a normal day, casual dress days, or a gift card. Once you have the incentives, announce the program, evaluation criteria, and incentives to employees.

Celebrate your first employee of the month

You’ll want to announce your winner at an all-office meeting so everybody can celebrate together. Build anticipation by describing the employee’s accomplishments before announcing the name so people will be on the edge of their seats trying to figure out who will win. Present the employee with a certificate in an elegant frame that can be displayed in the employee’s office or cubicle. In addition, consider creating a plaque or other permanent award to display centrally with the name of each month’s winner engraved on it.

You will know you have created a successful employee of the month program if you hear people talking about it throughout the month. Having a goal in mind provides motivation for employees to go above and beyond expectations. Get ready to launch your program right away by shopping at PaperDirect for fun awards for your workplace!

A high employee turnover hurts your company’s bottom line. It’s also not great for morale, as employees seem to come and go, and staff members aren’t able to form strong working relationships. Keeping your employees happy is a key part of lowering your turnover rate. If you aren’t sure how to improve employee turnover, try implementing one or more of these ideas to make your workplace a desirable place to be.

Hire with Care

One great way to reduce turnover is to hire the right person for the job. Being right for a position means not only having the ability to perform the job, but also to get along with people in the office. When you interview candidates, get a feel for their personalities. You might also want to find out why they want the job. You want an employee who really wants the job, not someone who’ll take the position only until something better comes along.

Recognize Employees

Everyone wants to be recognized for their hard work. Make your employees feel like they are part of the team by regularly offering awards certificates and recognition to the hardest workers. Consider starting an employee of the month program, which recognizes a person who has gone above and beyond.

Make Sure Pay is Right

Pay is a big issues for both employees and employers. People are likely to jump ship if their pay isn’t in line with their position or if they haven’t received a raise in a long while. Do some research to find out if what you’re offering employees is in line with similar positions at other companies.

You might also want to consider boosting benefits to convince people to stay. For example, you can begin to offer flexible work schedules to staff or offer bonuses for employees who perform especially well over the quarter or year.

Remember That Your Employees are People

Along with being paid fairly and receiving recognition for their efforts, most employees want to be treated like human beings. You’ll reduce turnover if you remember that sometimes your workers need a day off or that sometimes a team member will have to work from home as he or she cares for a sick child or spouse.

When thinking of ways to lower your company’s turnover rate, think of the things you’d want from an employer. Odds are likely that the things you’d hope for in a job are similar to the very things your team members want.

Sometimes small businesses need more than just competitive compensation to keep employees happy. If you’re looking for some creative perks, consider one or more of the following. They will certainly keep employees working hard!

Creative Perks:

Bring Your Dog to Work day.

It’s all in the name. Dogs have been known to calm the stressed while boosting moods. Plus, many people dislike leaving their dogs alone all day. Have a weekly or monthly day where dogs are welcome in the office.

Weekly Breakfasts.

How often do your employees show up late because they’ve been waiting at the drive thru? Supply breakfast every once in a while- your employees will show up on time, focused and ready to work.

Summer Hours.

There are many ways to offer summer hours. You could give employees Friday flex schedules; offer extra summer vacation days, shorter work hours, or anything else. Since summer is such a popular time for travel, parties and family gatherings, your employees will definitely appreciate this!

Surprise! You’re off.

Plan a secret day off- announced the day before.

Fun and Games.

Bring a ping pong table or other game into the office. Have a Wednesday playing session or allow employees to use it every time they finish a project.

Happy Hour.

Hosting a happy hour is an easy one. Whether you decide to sponsor it or not, employees enjoy creating relationships outside of work.

Casual dress code.

Employees appreciate having a casual workplace. Whether its one day or all week, consider this simple perk!

Fantasy Football, March Madness, Etc.

Have a little office competition by supporting efforts to organize a league or team.

Office Gym/ Discounted Membership.

If you don’t have an office gym, consider paying for a portion of your employee’s gym memberships. It has been proven that healthy employees are happier and produce better work.

Fitness Incentives.

If gym memberships aren’t in your budget, offer fitness incentives to your employees. This can look something like “The Office” weight loss competition or giving one extra personal day to every employee that has a membership on their own.

Birthday Off.

Happy Birthday! When it’s your employee’s birthday, they get a holiday!

Free Spotify/ Rdio account

If your employees are working at their computers and listening to music, offer to pay for their Spotify or other music accounts. Most of these services run about $10/ month and help your workers get in the groove.

Summer sports tournament.

Get together once a week after work and play kickball, softball or volleyball.

Monthly raffles

Give away simple prizes like baseball tickets, business SWAG or Starbucks gift cards.

Applause award

Every month, recognize a hardworking employee by honoring them in front of the company. Hand them an award certificate and see them glow.

Hopefully one of these creative perks sparks some action. Keeping your employees happy and fulfilled is important and can reduce turnover while improving company reputation. For more ideas on employee recognition, visit PaperDirect.