Just Buy The Hot Dog!
SOMETIMES YOU SHOULD JUST BUY THE HOTDOG:
WHY SMALL, CONSISTENT REWARDS WILL MOTIVATE THE BEST EMPLOYEES EVERY TIME
By Steve Rosen
Steve Rosen stifled a groan. It was lunch hour and he was walking with his bosses again to the convenience store across the street from their Midwest-based start-up engineering firm. Steve’s bosses, the firm’s owners, were exceptionally frugal. Several times a week they would take advantage of the convenience store’s 2-for-$.99 lunch special on hotdogs, but they never offered to pick up the tab.
“It wasn’t the money, it’s the principle,” says Rosen, owner of Domino Effect, Inc., a business, strategic planning, and management consulting company based in Erie, Pennsylvania.
While the best employees are the ones who value simple common courtesy, it still not enough to attract and retain the types of driven, hardworking employees who benefit a company the most.
SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS
Rosen’s emphasis is not on buying loyalty but on consistently providing small incentives for employees and associates to continue working on and developing those professional relationships and duties.
Rosen has found that small gestures of kindness do much to motivate employees to keep delivering above-expected results. Rosen gives regular raises based on performance and covers all insurance premiums for his employees.
While being stringent or conservative can save a business a few dollars every month, the reputation a business can build and the caliber of employees it can attract and retain by doing things with kindness and courtesy pays off immeasurably in the long-term.
“I may not give huge bonus checks or gift cards to specialty stores once or twice a year, but on a regular, consistent basis, I offer an ongoing message of appreciation and support,” says Rosen.
It may be lunch once or twice a week, it may be leaving early on a Friday afternoons in the summer or after a day of long meetings. It may be attending social or sports functions like baseball or hockey games, rounds of golf, or simply just saying “thank you.”
BEYOND COURTESY
While small gestures, like icing on a cake, go a long way towards motivating a professional team, managing expectations and communicating effectively with employees are the meat and potatoes of employee incentives.
Though good management techniques certainly include directly telling employees they are getting a free lunch because the company appreciates their efforts, or directly expressing to employees that management values their work, a more indirect approach is sometimes the best way to communicate gratitude.
“I usually bring up one project or a few action items we're working on just to get some feedback outside of the office, but I do it in a conversational style, not a status check style,” says Rosen.
“I might ask, ‘Wow, this project is really time consuming isn't it?’ or say, "You’ve got to love stepping away from this project for a few minutes. Let’s eat!’”
Apart from these communication techniques to receive immediate project updates, managers who adhere to best practices show employees they value their success in the long-term as it continues to benefit the company.
“I worked with another business that treated me like gold, and I returned their investment by overproducing, working harder and smarter, and delivering results that were more than expected,” says Rosen.
“After a number of years, the owner came to me and said, ‘Steve, I can’t pay you another dime, I can’t give you any more responsibility, I can’t give you more carrots.’
“My response was, ‘Can’t or won’t?’ The owner said, ‘Won’t. You’ve hit your peak at this level and I’m not going to change the job description or pay range for your position.’ No other incentives were offered. I was gone in three months.”
“This is why when I started my business, and to this day, I’ll spring for lunch for my employees or anyone with whom I have a business relationship,” says Rosen.
While a common fear of management is that employees will come to expect these incentives or take them for granted, the people who do not appreciate them are those who tend not to stay with a good company for long. In building a team, consistent small gestures far outweigh inconsistent grandiose gestures each and every time, and will weed out the types of team members who will not help the company grow over time.
TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO TAKE CARE OF YOU
It is remarkable how an unscheduled, last minute lunch invitation can go a long way towards improving employee morale. A holiday bonus of $25.00 is as appreciated as a holiday bonus of $50.00 because it is about the giving, and not just the taking. Even a simple thank you card means more to an employee than not being recognized at all.
A $20 gift card or a $20 bottle of wine will bring a smile to the face of the recipient, and in some way make their day or holiday season brighter.
“Don’t we spend more than that on things that are fun to have but not needed, like CDs, DVDs, or car washes? It is the same thing with the midday meal. If there’s a deadline that’s met, a goal that’s surpassed, a win in a negotiation, then lunch is on me to celebrate,” says Rosen.
“In today’s world, it’s hard to expect others to treat you the way you want to be treated, so treating others appropriately can be a difficult chore to accomplish, but one that is very rewarding.
“Buy the hot dogs. It is worth the $.99.”