Staff turnover is disruptive to associations. There’s even a direct relationship between staff morale and retention?
Try keeping morale up with these free or low-cost ideas:
- Free coffee is the norm for offices these days. How about putting water, pop, and tea in the mix? Stock the kitchen with healthy snacks or at least subsidize the soda and snack vending machines.
- Provide lunch once a month or at least allow enough time for a regular monthly potluck.
- Lose the shoes. A slippers Thursday or flip-flop Friday can make employees feel right at home.
- End the email arms race to prove who the hardest worker is: Are employees cc’ing each other on every email? Sending a barrage of back-and-forth messages? Emailing late at night or over the weekend (to prove their dedication)? Put a stop to it. Declare a policy of “no unnecessary emails” and writing at odd hours. They may not admit it, but they’ll be glad you did.
- Are you keeping employees waiting while you finish up phone calls? Do you have regular meetings that no one knows the purpose of? It’s time to stop and consider that this might be sending a message to your staff that their time doesn’t really matter.
- No reserved parking spaces (or similar perks just for executives/long-timers)—everyone is an equal.
- Are summer doldrums taking over your staff? Call an emergency meeting for the next day—and then announce that everyone can have the afternoon off and you’ll stay to handle things at the office.
When employees feel appreciated and valued, they’re less likely to leave the associations they work for. DON’T focus on why these ideas won’t work. Just set an initial goal to make just 2-3 a reality. The results might surprise you.