** Originally published on www.theentrepreneurnotes.com**
One of the interesting things in employment, that most Entrepreneurs and Business Owners forget, is your employee satisfaction, many times you forget that it is not the salary or the extra perks you think can’t afford, it is the little things.
You read about places like Google and Oracle, where their employees are pampered, and think it is impossible for you as an small business owner or entrepreneur to match them; and in a way it is true, but you are looking at the problem from the wrong perspective. Your employees satisfaction are directly related with their productivity, a happy employee will stay later, will put more effort in their job, will walk the extra mile barefoot, an unhappy one, not so much.
Do you think, that you need to spend millions, to make this people happy, let me prove you wrong for a moment. Have you think on Pizza Fridays, Good Free Coffee, Cold Water on the Summer, one Friday afternoon off after a good month?
As a Small Business Owner and Entrepreneur, your resources are limited, but that doesn’t mean that your motivation need to be too, it has been proven on many studies that it is one of the most expensive things on your business is a employee that leave and the consequent need to train the new one. The problem with many entrepreneurs and small business owners is that they try to get this employee back after he cross the line, after he is ready to leave. The problem is that without realizing that after that employee cross that line, it is a matter of time, yes more money will make him or her reconsidering the offer, but the decision is made, employees leave their job because dissatisfaction, and after all those things that bother you as an employee are out, no one can hide them again anymore.
But again, how expensive is to show thanks, to show that you appreciate your team, offer pizza once in a while, and make your employee feel that the job they do, make your business better?
Again most entrepreneurs and small business owners thinks, that it is really expensive, without realizing that at the time this employee quits, you are going to offer them all that money and more.
Stop for a moment, and reflect on this, how much cost you to bring lunch this friday for the whole company? How much is going to cost you to send a thank you note on August 30th to all your employees for the effort on the difficult month? How much is their productivity and happiness affecting your bottom line? Do you think pizza is expensive, an unhappy good employee is thousand times more expensive, yes the one that it is unhappy, but the job is good enough, and again, if that employee had not cross the line yet, trust me, a cheap thanks, a little of attention and make them feel special will go a great way on reel him back, and get that productivity back. If your employee cross the line, sorry, their is no return, after you cross the no return point, no one can reel you back.
What are you going to do to bring productivity up? How much is the cost on list productivity versus the pizza tis friday?