Bulletin boards, scoreboards, birthday and anniversary emails, notes of encouragement, letters from the CEO… all varieties of internal communication have a big effect on loyalty, morale and overall production. This all comes down to increasing the bottom-line of your business.
One of the most powerful ways to increase all of these aspects in your employee/employer relationship is with a personal touch. Employee recognition, letting an employee know they are appreciated or that you simply remember their work anniversary can go a really long way.
For instance, an article out of Vanderbilt explained that one of the best ways to keep younger employees happy and productive is with recognition. Professor Cherrie Clark explained, "What they are really looking for is challenge and recognition. You can create challenge by special projects…If they are passionate about it, they will work around the clock to make it happen." Obviously this doesn’t mean that everyone needs constant recognition, but when someone does an outstanding job, what is the harm in telling them? It only builds loyalty and increases productivity!
Not only that, when you use recognition, appreciation or other internal communications to improve workforce morale or happiness, it can be worth more than money! A study out of the University of Iowa found that making people happy and improving their sense of belonging to a bigger cause can be a better motivational tool than an increased salary! Your employees spend more time at work than at home, so being happy can be worth more a few extra bucks a week. So who do you do this? Let’s dive into a few options!
At PFSbrands, we have multiple TVs around the office that show our employees the important metrics that need to be top of mind (see below). Employees are always a room or two away from seeing the quarterly goals, upcoming events, critical numbers, birthdays and anniversaries, welcome messages to guests or new employees…etc. This keeps everyone moving in the same direction and builds a family atmosphere!
This is one of the most simplistic ways to build loyalty and comradery in the office. All you have to do is send out a reminder every Monday to the entire staff in regards to the coming week’s birthdays or work anniversaries. This is just a tiny little gesture that really makes people feel welcome, especially when they receive well-wishes back from their coworkers.
We all are inundated with emails so we don’t want to stuff up your employee’s inbox, but the occasional motivational note can go a long way. Being widely read as the CEO of your company, I’m sure you come across quotes from your favorite authors that would greatly motivate your employees and instill ownership thinking. Pass it on to them! The ones that truly want to be a better employee will take it to heart.
Finally, we get to one of the most powerful internal communication tools that you can use to improve morale and business communication. CEO letters or a CEO synopsis/monthly newsletter, if done correctly, can be very well-received. By providing the interesting details of the previous month, giving a shout out to a few employees who went above and beyond and even forecasting the upcoming quarter, you let everyone know what’s going on in the company and build that atmosphere of communication and openness. (You will get a full breakdown of this in our last installment on Executive Communication.)
You could potentially open this up to your customers as well. Heck, you might be the next Oracle of Omaha with your Berkshire Hathaway Yearly Synopsis!
You know what type internal communication works to increase loyalty, morale and happiness in the office? Good old-fashioned sincerity, thoughtfulness and the human touch. Everyone loves getting recognized for hard work. We all want to feel appreciated or that someone is thinking of us. All it takes is a few minutes of your time each week to increase all of these things. Trust us, happier employees will lead to an improved bottom-line!
Miss any of our Business Communication installments? Make sure to check them out!