How to Thank Employees

Here's another one from the National Federation of Independent Business:

 

How to Thank Employees When You Can't Afford to Give a Bonus

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The end-of-year bonus can be a tricky thing for small-business owners. Let's say last year you had exceptional profits and shared the wealth in the form of cash bonuses. This year perhaps business didn't go as well, and you really can't afford those bonuses. Even if your employees know that you didn't make as much this year, they still may be counting on a similar perk. The unpredictability of profits from year to year is a main reason that many small-business owners avoid holiday bonus altogether.

Read on for tips about non-monetary ways to thank your employees when you can't give bonuses this year.

Let Your Staff Know
the Status of the Bonus

• This topic may be the elephant in the office. While few employees would come out and say that they're expecting a bonus, many of them will expect a bonus, especially if you've given bonuses with any consistency in the past.
  
• Be up front about it. Send a memo or make an announcement in a meeting. Otherwise, you may have employees who think they didn't get a bonus while other people did. While this may be an uncomfortable announcement, and you may have to endure a little grumbling, be transparent about the reasons you can't give a bonus this year. Perhaps your employees aren't aware that the rent for your office space doubled this year, your vendors have increased their prices and so on. Sharing this information will help allay hard feelings.
  
• Also, let your staff know that you still value their contributions, no matter how it translated to your bottom line. And assure them that you'll use the season to celebrate everyone's hard work.

Throw a Holiday Party

Throwing a nice holiday party for your employees might take some of the sting out of not receiving bonuses. Though if it's too nice, your staff might wonder why you didn't take that money and give them bonuses instead. On the whole, a staff party will likely cost much less than giving monetary gifts to all of your staff, and you can still go beyond the usual coffee and cake routine to make the party memorable. You could rent out a room in a restaurant or have something catered in your office. If you really want to help employees forget about the lack of bonuses, hold the party early in the day and let them go home early with full pay.

Hold a Contest

If you're worried about the cost of giving across-the-board bonuses, you could consolidate your available funds with a holiday contest for employees. For example, if all of your employees are sales staff, then you could give a cash prize to the person who picked up the most new clients in December. If you're going the contest route, just make sure that all of your employees can participate, and pick up consolation prizes to acknowledge everyone's contribution. A gift raffle at your holiday party is also a good way to stretch limited funds. You could have one or two grand prizes, a few runner-ups and enough consolation prizes so everyone goes home with at least a good box of chocolates.

Partner with Other Businesses to Give Employee Gifts

Think of all the other small companies with whom you do business or are on a friendly basis. Do they provide any products or services that could make nice gifts for your staff? If so, see if you can arrange a trade or some sort of discount with each other. Just make sure that they offer something your employees will truly appreciate. If you give everyone in your office a pen, for instance, this could be more insulting than giving nothing at all.

Gift Cards

While a bonus check for $50 dollars may not seem like much, a $50 dollar coffee gift card, which would give a person free coffee breaks for a month, could put a smile on an employee's face. While still a modest thank-you, gift cards chosen based on employee's tastes and interests will show your thoughtfulness. (Obviously, you wouldn't get the coffee card for the employee who comes in with a fruit smoothie every morning.)

Many of your employees are probably with you as opposed to a big corporation because they value and admire the ethics of small business. And they understand the monetary fluctuations to which small businesses are sometimes susceptible. If you treat your employees with respect and acknowledge their hard work throughout the year, then this probably means more to them than a bonus check. With a little creativity, you can find ways to make their holiday season a little brighter without breaking the bank.

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