Three Ways to Recognize and Appreciate Your Nonprofit or Small Business Employees

There's a national day for Employee Appreciation coming up. It's on March 3rd every year. And if you didn't know about this day or forgot about it, I guarantee your employees know about it. And they're going to be thinking in the back of their minds if you know about it too.

As a leader, think about the last time you put your heart and soul into a work project and nailed the execution or presentation. I'm sure it felt good to check that off your work achievement list. But you know what probably felt even better? Having your manager notice and give you some accolades for it.

That simple act of appreciation and recognition by a manager is a major boost for employee morale, performance, and productivity.

So, let's start with the basics. Everyone likes to be recognized in different ways. Some employees like to the show-y recognition in an all-staff meeting, some like appreciation in a 1:1 meeting, and others like a handwritten thank-you-great-job note. But all of those methods boil down to one thing...acknowledgement and praise for an employee's behavior or achievement.

According to Quantum Workplace, companies with formal recognition programs have 31% less voluntary turnover and they're 12 times more likely to have stronger business outcomes. Recognition is a key driver in employees being engaged and ultimately, staying longer with you, reducing your employee turnover.

So if you want your business to be successful, it's time to start thinking about appreciating and recognizing your employees. Because if you don't do it, another business will.

As a nonprofit or small business, I'm sure you're thinking, "I want to appreciate and recognize my employees, but I don't have a ton of money. What can I do, Niki?" Well, I'm glad you're here!

Here's three starting ways to appreciate and recognize your nonprofit or small business employees for Employee Appreciation Day...or any day, as a matter of fact.

1. ASK them how they like to be appreciated and recognized. Just ask.

Let your team know you want to do something special to appreciate and recognize them...and let them tell you their ideas. Whether it's a monthly team building event, closing the business to take them out to lunch, or other ideas, you shouldn't assume you know what they want and they'll love that you're asking them for input. And you can consider their ideas and see what's feasible for you and the business. Through these conversations, you can also ask each individual how they like to be recognized (in front of the team, in a 1:1 meeting, or a random shout-out when they do a good job). There's nothing more off-putting that getting put on the spot in front of the team when you really prefer to receive recognition in a 1:1 meeting instead.

2. Rewards and gifts talk.

You've got a stretched budget, but to reduce turnover and to build better business outcomes, plan to carve out a small portion for recognition. It's better to use that budget appreciating your current employees rather than spending your time, energy, and money interviewing, hiring, and training a brand new employee. Ask your employees again what they think is valuable and what could be most useful to them. Gift cards to grocery stores, their favorite lunch spot, and fuel cards are always helpful especially with recent inflation and rising costs of these items. And if you don't have a longer-term salary/merit increase strategy, which is critical in this employee-driven market, develop one.

3. Offer professional AND personal development opportunities.

Being a nonprofit or small business, it's the reality that you may not be able to provide the type of career growth your employees might be looking for. But there's a lot of learning opportunities to grow their skills and make them more valuable...in your workplace or elsewhere. Is there a certification they're wanting to get that you could support? What about a conference they've never been able to attend before? Maybe they've wanted to work with a life and career coach to help them build their confidence? By supporting the professional and personal aspirations, your employees will feel that you appreciate them as a person, not just an employee that shows up every day for a paycheck.

If you need help creating an awesome employee appreciation program or you're experiencing consistent employee turnover and you're not sure why, let's talk. You need an HR partner who's an expert in this stuff, so schedule some time with me today.