7 Ways to Show Your Employees You Care

 

Showing your employees a little bit of extra love can go a long way towards increasing productivity, reducing staff turnover, and spurring innovation. In addition, employees will be happier and more likely to stay with your company long-term. Our whole mission is to make people happy, so take it from us and check out some methods to best show your employees how much you appreciate them.

Go Above and Beyond Yourself

According to a recent study by Office Vibe, 42% of employees feel their leadership does not contribute to a positive company culture. If you want staff who will go above and beyond, make sure you lead by example. If an employee is having trouble or is swamped with work—offer to help them out. Did someone’s tire blow on the way to work? Offer to come lend a hand or call a tow service. Whatever the problem is— take the time to develop a solution.

Make Time and Lift Burdens

Hard working employees are busy. Even when an employee clocks out for the day, they may have a lot of chores and errands to run. Cleaning the house, cooking dinner—these activities can eat up a lot of free time.

Many cutting-edge companies now offer maid services, dry cleaning, and assistance with other personal tasks. For example, Errand Solutions provides a concierge service solution to help with all of that. Taking care of your employees’ personal to-do list will help them free up time and get some much needed R&R.

Throw a (Surprise?) Party

According to recent studies, 60% of employees eat alone at their desk, working. Kind of depressing, right?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but spread the word about “free” food in the office and watch your team come running. Throw a pizza party or an ice cream social. Even something small will make a big impact.

Depending on the situation, social events can be a great way to break the ice. Organize a potluck, an afternoon at the park or a happy hour. (Just make sure you don’t go too far by staying out all night drinking!) By creating fun events, your staff will realize how much you care about them as people, not just employees.

Need help organizing a celebration? Get in touch with our team! We’ve helped plan countless awesome parties.

Get to Know Your Team on a Personal Level

Ask your employees a bit about their personal life. You don’t have to get into details; often, it’s best to keep things simple. What’s the best movie or book they’ve enjoyed recently? How’s the family? Any pets?

Also, make sure you respect any personal space and don’t badger someone to more share anything they don’t want to.

Don’t know what experience to offer? Again, get in touch. We’ll find the best venues and opportunities.

Do the Little Things

Did an employee perform above and beyond last week? Send them a thank you email, or stop by the desk to let them know how much you appreciate their hard work. Consider rewards too, even if it’s just a $10 gift card (we sell them on-site!). You don’t have to hand out compliments like candy on Halloween, but some occasional nice words or a small gift can go a long way.

Write Personalized Thank You Notes

Skip the form letters. Write a thank you note by hand, or type a personalized message and put your John Hancock on it. Personalized birthday cards and other notes are also a nice touch.

Set Proper Expectations

Don’t demand the impossible out of your employees. They’ll get discouraged, and might think that you regard them as a cog in the machine. This mindset breeds low engagement.

Let your employees provide feedback when setting expectations. By being reasonable and asking for input, you will signal to your employees that you trust and respect them.

Care For Your Employees and They Will Care For Your Company

If you want your employees to care about your company, then you need to care about your employees. It’s really that simple! Once your employees know you care, they’ll start to care more about the company and its performance. Then they’ll strive harder to pursue its vision. They’ll be more creative, innovative, and engaged—and you’ll see the results.

Stop the Revolving Door

When I first moved to Chicago, I found an awesome apartment with two friends. We were living on our own, for the first time in the big city, and we had two floors and a garage and a killer back yard with a giant grill. It was pretty much the dream of any 22-year-old college grad.

But then, the real world set in. After a few months, one of the guys missed Iowa too much and decided to move back home. So my roommate and I were left with an empty room in a great apartment.

You’d think it would have been easy to fill that space. But the next three years were a revolving door of roommates: a chiropractor, a teacher, a college freshman spending the summer taking improv classes at Second City who spent late nights playing the guitar on the back deck, another chiropractor, and finally another teacher. And that’s not counting the three other prospective roommates who backed out at the last second and left us with a larger rent check for that month.

The Consequences

A high turnover rate comes at a huge cost. Some studies have found that it costs an average of six to nine months’ salary every time a business replaces a salaried employee. That means a manager making $40K a year will cost $20K-$30K to replace. Other studies have predicted that number could be even higher. The Center for American Progress found that losing a salaried employee can cost up to two times their annual salary, especially for a high-earner or executive level employee. Between the costs of recruiting, training, onboarding, temporary hires and separation costs, this can add up quickly. In fact, companies who are continuously onboarding and failing to retain new employees are losing millions of dollars a year.

My roommate and I certainly spent plenty of time looking for new roommates. Posting ads on craigslist, sublet.com, interviewing friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends. It turned out to be a full time job, and it didn’t always yield the best results (e.g. the improv student who drank all the rum right before he moved out). And there were way too many months where I had to pay half of the rent, instead of one third.

In addition to the loss of money, companies get hit in other ways, including lost productivity. It typically takes a new employee 1-2 years to reach the productivity level of an existing employee. Additionally, companies can see a loss of engagement: when other employees start to notice the high turnover, they can tend to disengage from the company. There’s also a cultural impact that happens with a high turnover rate. When one employee leaves, other employees start to ask why. 

In case you’re wondering why people kept moving out, I’m blaming it on the fact that the third bedroom was right off of the living room, and my other roommate was on the couch every night watching the Sci-Fi network. Also, people kept getting married. As a result, our retention rate was roughly 66% each year. This could also be why I now live alone.

How’s Yours?

To calculate your company’s retention rate, just divide the number of employees who left during a period by the total number of employees at the end of the period. A healthy employee retention rate is considered to be 85% or higher. 

If your retention rate could use some work, consider taking a look at your benefits package. Are you offering the bare minimum health insurance? What about pre-tax allowances like parking or commuter benefits? And don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Investing your money into a concierge program like Errand Solutions can improve retention rates drastically. In just the first year of service, one Errand Solutions client experienced a 2% reduction in attrition. 

For more information on Errand Solutions and our solutions aimed to help your employee retention, give us a call at 312.475.3800 or email info@errandsolutions.com.

Posted by Micky & Jackie

4 Foolproof Ways to Attract Millennials to Your Company

By the year 2025, Brookings Data Now estimates that millennials will make up roughly 75% of the U.S. labor force.

There’s a clear changing of the guard!

If your company’s workforce isn’t already predominantly millennial, it’s only a matter of time before it is . . . And if you’re an executive who is hesitant to embrace millennials, you’re currently at a major disadvantage when it comes to acquiring the best available talent.

So, how do you go about attracting millennials to your company? Let us help! We love millennials and we know what they’re looking for in potential employers. Make your company a destination spot for them!

A Strong Culture

“Culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion.” – Brian Chesky (CEO Airbnb)

Millennials know what they want. Likewise, it’s important for your company to know what it wants and what it is.

This begins with setting core values and goals and making sure they’re echoed throughout your organization. If your company supports a particular cause, see that it’s emphasized and that there are opportunities for employees to get involved.

A Fun Environment

“Being a great place to work is the difference between being a good company and a great company.” – Brian Kristofek (CEO Upshot)

Millennials want work to be fun! So, why can’t it be? In a survey completed by Ring Central in 2014, 78% of millennials stated that a company’s work environment affects their decisions to stay at a job. This comes back to culture. What kind of workplace have you built for your employees? Is it an environment where people are silently working away in their cramped cubicles until 5pm finally rolls around? Or is it a place where people can interact with others, collaborate, and feel like they’re working towards something exciting?

When the work is fun, you’ll find that your employees perform better, boost company morale, and enhance your already-strong culture. You’ll also see your retention rate improve drastically.

A Sense of Transparency

“Power is gained by sharing knowledge, not hoarding it.” -Unknown

In a 2014 study from IBM, millennials cited the top three attributes of a perfect boss as “ethical and fair,” “transparent and readily shares information,” and “dependable and consistent.” The millennial generation values honesty. No fronts, no facades.

Be a company that fosters transparency at every level of the organization – a company that allows its employees’ voices to be heard. Create bridges of communication between the different tiers of the corporate hierarchy. Better yet, make your employees feel like they can approach anyone to ask for advice or present an idea.

Not only does this create harmony, but it also benefits both employee and employer. The employee will feel invested in the company and its endeavors, while the employer will reap the benefit of new innovative methods and ideas.

A Work-Life Balance

“Most people chase success at work, thinking that will make them happy. The truth is that happiness at work will make you successful.” -Alexander Kjerulf (Chief Happiness Officer of Woohoo inc)

People from every generation have expressed the desire for a good work-life balance.

The only difference is that, for previous generations, it was a perk. For millennials, it’s a necessity.

An employer might assume that greater flexibility would lead to a drop off in production but that isn’t the case. According to a survey commissioned by Bentley University, 89% of millennials regularly check their work emails after work hours. 

Millennials don’t want to stop working altogether – they just want flexibility, and their reasons are legitimate. Some want the option of working during the evening when they feel as though they’re at their best.

If you follow our advice and begin to tailor your organization to create an ideal work environment, there’s no reason you can’t add some of the best available millennial talents.

7 Ways Employers are Boosting Office Morale

Did you know that happy employees are 31% more productive?

Salaries aren’t enough anymore. These days, people are just as concerned with living a “good life” as they’re worried about cashing big checks. As a result, many companies have found that by offering perks and benefits, they can greatly increase morale and productivity. We’ve seen it with our own eyes! So even if the upfront costs of these perks seem undesirable, the long-term payoff could easily outweigh the expenditures.

Provide In-Home Cleaning to Reduce Chores

Nobody likes doing chores. Keeping the house clean, mowing the grass, all of these basic tasks can become a burden for people who are already working 40-plus hours a week. Tired workers are less likely to be engaged, creative, and innovative.

That’s why some employers are now offering free or discounted cleaning and other household services. This way, when employees aren’t in the office, they can relax, enjoy hobbies, or do pretty much anything else besides chores.

This will help your employees get some true R&R. As a result, company morale will improve, and productivity will increase as employees are more well rested.

Make it Easy to Hit the Gym

Offering employees free gym memberships or installing a gym facility in your office is a great way to encourage physical health. Gym memberships are relatively cheap in many areas, and group discounts may also be possible.

Meanwhile, a good workout will ensure that your employees are physically healthy. This will lower the risk of injuries, such as pulling out your back. Some studies have even linked working out to reducing the risk of catching a cold. Hitting the gym can reduce stress as well.

Consider letting employees take some time off from work to hit the gym as well. This is an especially feasible option if the gym is on-site or nearby. Letting an employee get in a twenty-minute workout at the gym can increase their productivity through the rest of the day, and improve their creative energy.

Offer a Night Out

A night out is always fun, but it can be hard to justify spending our hard earned cash when Netflix is cheaper than going to a theatre. Why pay for dinner and a movie when you can eat something frozen and watch TV? A lot of people end up skipping date night, especially during the winter.

Getting out of the house can help people relax and focus! So why not lend a hand and give them a night out for less? Offer your employees a gift certificate to a restaurant, or free movie tickets. These little perks can go a long way towards creating appreciation among your employees.

Make Vacation Mandatory

The vast majority of companies offer some type of vacation package. Sometimes the days are set per year. Other companies, such as Netflix, offer unlimited vacation time. However, many employees are often hesitant to take vacation days. Instead, the days just accrue unused.

Believe it or not, unused vacation time can actually hurt companies. Productivity and morale can be hurt as employees become overworked and stressed. Some time away from the office can help employees get some much needed R&R.

That’s why some companies have begun to mandate vacation. “Take your days or else we’ll send you home to get some rest.” This might sound extreme, however, in many cases, a “mandatory” policy simply reinforces how important vacation time is and how serious your company is about honoring it. That’s often enough to get employees to take days off.

Give Your Employees a Full-Time Concierge

Nothing says the “good life” more than having a concierge. Believe it or not, you can provide your employees with 24/7 services through Errand Solutions. Through our app, employees can contact us, and we can help them with just about anything. Seriously. Anything.

A lot of companies deliver their products and services with the utmost professionalism. We do too, but we throw a lot of passion and love into the mix as well. We’ve saved a choking iguana, found the best vegan birthday cake in town, and hosted an ice-fishing theme party. We even helped a customer track down their birth parents and hooked up a nervous child with a therapeutic bunny.

Good Benefits Lead to a Stable, Productive Workforce

The grass is always greener on the other side. Except when it isn’t. Make benefits an experience rather than an add-on. By using these employee retention strategies, you can make the grass greenest right in your office. This way, employees will have every reason to stay, and won’t be tempted by opportunities to leave.

 

What Your Company is Missing

I’ve only been in the work force for a few years, but like many young professionals, I did a lot of research before choosing my industry. I looked at a ton of companies, but I never came across any that offers a benefit like custom concierge services. In fact, before I joined the Errand Solutions team, I wasn’t even aware that this type of company existed. Vacation days and health insurance are great, but they aren’t enough.

In just my few years working full-time, I’ve come to realize how difficult it is to work eight or so hours a day and then find the time and energy to get my grocery shopping done, pick up my dry cleaning, clean my apartment and run any other errand that might come up. Life is hard, but you have an option to make it a little easier for your employees. Here are a few more reasons your company should offer concierge services:

Improve Retention Rates
To be successful, it’s important for a company to retain their hardworking employees. If your employees are consistently leaving after short time periods, you should start asking yourself why. Maybe the job is too demanding, or the employee feels unappreciated. Regardless of the reasons, a concierge benefit can help. Custom concierge services have been proven to improve a company’s turnover rate and give an incentive for employees to stay.

Improve Productivity
Not only can a concierge service help retain employees, but it can also greatly improve an employee’s productivity. Instead of stressing about getting their car’s oil changed or finding a reliable dog walker, with a concierge service, they can focus solely on work. An employee can drop off their to-list at the beginning of each day and the concierge can take care of it all while they work. With less stress and more time to focus on work, their productivity will sky rocket.

Improve Recruiting
If you work in HR, you probably know how difficult it is to hire the best employees. Having trouble competing with companies in your field for the best talent? Start to re-think your benefits package. Companies are getting more creative with their benefits and company culture, offering free beer on Fridays, comfy seating, flexible environments and more—so what does your company offer? A complimentary concierge service is guaranteed to make your company stand out to the most desirable of candidates.

Improve Employee Happiness
Happy employees make for better employees. While the occasional free lunch or holiday bonus can help, those are all short-term fixes. A concierge benefit can improve employee satisfaction all year long. Employees will be much happier at work when they know their free time won’t be filled with errands and chores. Additionally, the money they’ll save through discount deals and special promotions can be better spent on fun stuff such as vacations, dinners or just more money for the future.

A custom concierge service is what your business has been missing. Errand Solutions has been providing customized concierge programs since 2001, but we’re constantly upgrading our technology to serve the customers of today (just ask for a demo of our upcoming mobile application!). We guarantee we’ll make a difference at your organization, no matter the industry or size. Get in touch to learn more today!