Your employees are your most valuable asset. There is definitely a difference in productivity between companies that have happy employees and those that don't. There are many things you can do to make your employees happy. You can have extensive employee benefits, perks, bonuses, and reward and recognition programs. Unfortunately, in these tough economic times, spending the money to keep your employees happy may be a cost too large to handle.
Fortunately, with some creative thinking, there are things you can that don't cost a lot, but can make a big impact in your workforce. On bnet.com, Carlos Bergfeld and Princess Calabrese offer some recession-friendly employee perks that will increase your company morale without increasing costs.
The first employee perk is to give gifts that mean something. They give the example of a Colorado brewery that gives its employees a custom bicycle on yearly anniversaries. Yes, it costs a couple of hundred bucks, but the gesture is extremely well received. Probably bicycles wouldn't work with your company as it does for the Colorado Brewery. They are already in an atmosphere that is "biker friendly" and embrace that atmosphere by providing ample bike parking and on-site showers. For your employees, you would need to recognize what your culture is and what would be well-received in it. With any luck, it will cost less than a bicycle.
The next perk is more intangible. You can give your employees time. One company in California did this by giving their employees two "I don't want to get out of bed" days per year. Their employees can use these to do whatever they want and not have to worry about lying about being sick or running into their boss later on that evening.
For perks that reward hard work, another company in California – a hotel -- gives tokens to employees that get good customer ratings. The tokens can be turned in for small gift certificates ($5 to $20). The reward is small, but they can be accumulated. You can devise a similar program that rewards your employees for achievements specific to your company. You can do gift certificates, merchandise from your own store if applicable, or whatever you devise. Surprisingly, it's not so much about what they can buy with their tokens, but the collection of them and the accompanying satisfaction.
