How To Boost Morale Quickly?

  1. Share
0 2

We only have 5 minutes till the next employee starts looking for a new place to work. Dagnabbit!

Yeah, that is how I feel too. What are we going to do about it as leaders? You can get your butt kicked or we can fight back?!

Lace up the gloves and let’s punch this “great resignation” in the mouth!

 

How?

  1. $100 handshake vs. $100 Christmas Gift

  2. Break Bread & Celebrate

  3. Birthday PTO

  4. Happy Hour

  5. Yearly Awards & Anniversary Celebrations

 

$100 Handshake or Gift Card

Everyone can say thank you, but actions speak louder than words. Wait! Actions that matter to the other person is key. What is the difference? If someone gave me a gift card to Red Lobster that is a waste and it would make me feel worse because that person doesn’t know what I like. Give someone a gift that will matter to them and if you aren’t sure then give them cash. Have you ever heard of the $100 handshake? It is when the boss comes up to the employee to tell them “Great job! Way to really hit the mark on that goal.” The boss reaches out their hand to congratulate the employee with a handshake. Unknown to the employee, the boss has a folded $100 bill in their hand which gets put in the employee's hand as they shake hands. BOOM!

 

A few other ideas, we have done monthly awards where the top voted employees get a $100 gift card. We also have given out $100 every Christmas Party for over 20 years. This money can be used by the employee on themselves, their family/friends, or give it away. Employees have shared some awesome stories on how that $100 made a big difference for them and others.

 

Break Bread & Celebrate Together

Order some food for breakfast and lunch for the whole company. People love free food! There is one very important rule here….NO BUSINESS TALK! Just keep it to focusing on your people’s hobbies, family, interests, etc. This is a time to bring everyone together and just enjoy the people of your organization. We have ordered food in, brought in a food truck, grilled hotdogs/burgers/brats ourselves, made pancakes, had hot salsa contests (sign a waiver 😊), etc. This is time to just relax with food and fun. It’s an investment of money and time but worth every bit.

 

No photo description available.

 

Birthday PTO

We created a special day to recognize employee’s birthdays by giving them a free day of PTO. Why? They are special people, and we should honor the day they were born. They can use the PTO on that specific birthday or save it for another day. It’s a bonus day for them to TREAT YO SELF! (Parks And Rec reference)

 

Gretchen Rubin

 

 

Happy Hour

Giving your employees an hour at the end of the day to relax with a cold one, soda or water has been awesome. We have employees bring their own chairs and we sit in the parking lot with the sunshine and music playing. People want to be outside when it’s beautiful. It feeds the soul! What is even better than that? Getting paid for sitting outside while drinking a cold one. It’s a great way to show you care about the person not just the job they do. It brings the people together to talk about life.

 

Yearly Awards & Anniversary Celebrations

Giving out awards for hitting yearly goals should be fun. I have given out nice awards with their name, achieved numbers, and the year they did it. That was great but it wasn’t till Steve Scherer, VP of Sales, came in and said “I can ditch the traditional awards? I want to make them more fun and personal.” I said, “Go for it!” Steve came up with amazing prizes. The best to date gift was a personal cameo from the Hall of Famer Brett Favre to the employee.” Holy Schnikes! This brought smiles and tears of joy! 

 

 

Other ideas can be the following: favorite team’s tickets, electric sign for their favorite beer, fishing pole, hunting gear, kayak, paid vacations, etc. I know someone that is going to give away a car!

Anniversary celebration and milestones is another great way to show love to your employees. We have given out cash for 5yr, 10yr, 15yr, 20yr and 25yr. We are reevaluating that right now as many employees might not make it to those major milestones. I have an employee that is two years away from hitting 30yrs with us. I asked her what she would like, and she suggested a large payout somewhere between $3k-$5k. It got me thinking what I need to do to really encourage those who stay for a shorter period to want to because of the anniversary celebration.

More ideas that we have done…

  1. Shoutout board – TEAMS or Bulletin Board

  2. Manager Dinner with spouses

  3. Family Fun Events

  4. Department Fun Events

  5. Entire Company "BIG EVENT" Outing

Everything listed above should be done with creativity and love. Don’t give away gifts because you feel like you must, but because you want to. Make the employee feel valued and loved!

 

Need more? 

Check out the IOL Community Groups to connect with like-minded leaders!

Go to our YouTube and LinkedIn pages for more encouraging content.  

If you're looking to take your growth as a leader to the next level, we've got you covered. Join the Impact of Leadership Community today!

 

Community tags

This content has 0 tags that match your profile.

Comments

To leave a comment, login or sign up.
  • Jason Buchmann

    Jason Buchmann

    Again you guys are amazing!!!! Fyi. I will be stealing some of this stuff. Not sure how competitive CCB employees are, but my guys thrive on competition. We have done t-shirts for those with record numbers or hitting mile stones. In the end I feel the biggest difference is just that fact you take the time to recognize the work people put in, as well as include them as part of the overall team.
  • PATRICK BOOTH

    PATRICK BOOTH

    Thank you Jason for giving IOL so much support! We love your ideas too. Keep sharing IOL with others you think would love to be part of this community!

Related Content

0
Happy New Year. Now Fire Yourself!
My dad taught me that it’s important to fire yourself at the end of the year, wait 10 seconds, soak up that horrible feeling, and then rehire yourself. Why in the world would my dad tell me to do this each year?   Give yourself a scare and new outlook. It’s better to pretend to fire yourself before it happens for real. Now strategize! What would you do differently if you were fired and rehired for the same job? You can’t grow to greater success if you don’t look at your failures and change them.   Yes, my dad could have been a Jedi Knight because he motivated himself and others through mind games. Most of those mind games made him and others extremely successful. I thought he was crazy when I was younger. Now I try to do everything he taught me.   It’s better to pretend to fire yourself before it happens for real.   When people get comfortable, they can become lazy, which can lead to poor results. Poor results can eventually lead to one being fired. Don’t wait for that awkward and regrettable moment. I’ve never met anyone that enjoys losing. Go ahead and make that awkward firing moment happen on your terms. Write yourself a termination letter and put reasons behind it. Punch yourself in the gut(words not literally) and make it hurt so you can learn.   What would you do differently if you were fired and rehired for the same job?   It’s so important to motivate yourself to think about new strategies to prevent becoming comfortable. You want to drive in better results every year, but you don’t change anything. How is that working for you? Nothing changes if nothing changes! If you had a record-breaking year…good for you…now get over it. No one cares what you did yesterday, last year, or five years ago. Business is about what you produce month-over-month and year-over-year. People don’t get fired because they are growing. People get fired when they get lazy or stop taking initiative to learn. How can you continue to push yourself to prove to everyone you are not playing it safe? What must you do to grow your success?   ACTION ITEM: Take 15 minutes and make a strategic list. Make sure you put these strategies into practice by putting each one on your calendar.   You can’t grow to greater success if you don’t look at your failures and change them.   No Time Management Your day is chaos. You feel no control in your day. You feel like nothing ever gets done that you want. Poor Communication You hold people to expectations that you did not share with them. People don’t live in your head. Use your words! No routine Schedule your work duties, and don’t get distracted. Give yourself time to think. Make sure to take PTO and recharge your batteries. Boring Meetings No one is excited to be there. No conflict. Watching the minutes for it to end. Talk Too Much – Poor Listening Don’t dominate the conversation. Make sure you shut your mouth and open your ears to hear what others have to say. Show respect to others by listening. Too Many Excuses For Missing Deadlines Nothing is worse than a boss demanding deadlines but the boss lives by double standards. Get your work finished on time. Set the bar with your actions. No Humility Say the words “I’m sorry!” and “It’s my fault!” No one wants to follow a leader who is arrogant and full of pride. Lack of Passion Zap your heart and get excited about your work. No one wants to follow someone who is lukewarm or passive. No Accountability You need someone who will speak TRUTH into you. Make sure to ask others how you are doing and listen to their advice. Broken Trust With Failed Promises Let your YES be YES and your NO be NO. Follow through on your commitments, and show up in mind, body and spirit when you arrive. Need more?  Book us to speak at your next event, and we’ll light it up! Check out our YouTube and LinkedIn pages for more encouraging content.   If you’re looking to take your growth as a leader to the next level, we’ve got you covered. Join the Impact of Leadership Community today!
0
Leadership Exposed: Sharing My Mistakes & Lessons Learned (New Podcast Series)
The past few months, I have launched a new series called “Leadership Exposed” on our podcast. This idea was born as Steve Scherer and I were thinking about new ways to connect with our listeners. We asked ourselves.... What are leaders needing to grow? How can I help them? What do I wish I knew when I started out as a leader? Then it hit me, leaders need to hear the truth on where I have failed so they can be better than me.   At IOL, we believe more is learned from failures than successes.   This is a twenty-minute series because you are too busy to hear me speak for an hour.   We have launched 3 episodes (today is the release of #3) where I share real stories to learn about my mistakes as a leader so you can learn.   Most people don’t want to share where they messed up because there is a fear that others will realize we aren’t perfect. We believe at The Impact of Leadership that we want to focus on the real issues not the fluffy stuff.   Here is a recap of lessons learned in the first three episodes:   Episode 1: Into to this series & hiring the wrong people.  *Click on the link to hear the episode.  Don’t ignore your gut when something feels off in the interview. Ask key questions and get clarity when you feel confusion with the answers given. Check their references (warning: no managers listed is a RED FLAG) to understand how to coach them well. Confirm they fit your company’s core values – create your own if you don’t have. Walk away if they are the wrong fit – it’s better to walk away if there is doubt.   Episode 2:  Are you a BSer?! *Click on the link to hear the episode.  Take time to ask follow up questions and compare the answers you are getting to confirm accuracy. Keep asking questions! It’s okay for a leader to be honest and say “I don’t know” to employees’ questions vs. making up something. Don’t overpromise and under deliver. Ask employees, not managers, how they are doing to hear their direct heart. Keep your commitments and define boundaries as a leader. Take action!   Episode 3: The difference between being a good boss vs. a great boss. *Click on the link to hear the episode.  A great boss… Bring accountability to your team. Give clear and specific directions with deadlines to your team. Be intentional, decisive and proactive. You cannot be a people pleaser. Ask “WHY” questions and listen well. Is passionate not emotional that is all over the place. Has integrity, vision, humility, creativity, emotional intelligence, etc. – lead in front.   No one is perfect so let’s be real on where we fail and how we have grown from our mistakes.   Nothing changes, if nothing changes.   You are not alone, we want to engage with you.   Reach out to me directly Patrick.booth@impactofleadership.com if I can be of any help.   *JOIN CCB TECHNOLOGY FOR A LIVE IT SECURITY EVENT ON MARCH 19TH* https://ccbtechnology.com/security-summit/ Register HERE Use discount code: Save50 – This will give you a $50 discount at registration.