Even if you believe that employee morale is pretty good at your company, there’s always room for improvement. Happy employees are more productive employees, and let’s face it, nobody wants to feel like just a number or a cog in the proverbial wheel. They want to feel as though they matter. That they’re important to the company they devote so many hours of their life to.
While there are many different ways to foster this spirit, one of the simplest and most straightforward is to simply recognize them on special occasions. Birthdays. Holidays. Celebrating important milestones in their lives.
This, of course, means a bit more time spent organizing and getting to know your employees from a managerial perspective, but it’s time well spent. Again, it shows that you care about your employees as human beings. That they’re not simply assets, whose sole function is to increase your bottom line.
Getting started is simple. Just begin by doing some basic, top level research if you don’t already have the information you need at your fingertips. What are your employees’ birthdays? Who’s married, and who isn’t? Who has children and who doesn’t? What are their anniversaries and the birthdays of their kids?
You don’t have to make an extravagant gesture for each of these occasions. Sometimes, even a simple word of acknowledgement or a card given to show that you’re aware of their lives outside the workplace is sufficient.
Of course, there are times when you’ll no doubt want to go the extra mile and do something more meaningful. Holidays represent an outstanding opportunity to express your appreciation, and birthdays are even better, because they are more personal.
The best part is, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to really make your employee’s day and make them feel special. You can find tons of great gift ideas ranging in price between ten and twenty dollars. Even less, if you’re on a budget and just don’t have that much to spend.
Here are a few great gift ideas, offered at a variety of price points.
Finding The Perfect Birthday Gift For Your Employee
The key to finding the perfect gift for your employee is to get them something that’s both of practical value, and that demonstrates that you know something about them, their lives, and their personality.
For example, in looking at the gift ideas at the other end of the link we provided above, if you have a serious-minded employee, then a Troll stress ball probably isn’t a great fit, and such a gift is likely to have an effect opposite that which you intended, because more than anything, it shows that you don’t really know much about the employee in question.
On the other hand, if you take their personality into account when making your selection, you can find something that they’ll truly appreciate, which will make them feel as though they’re a part of something. That’s where the magic is, and that’s what increases morale.