1. Remember the personal things that they tell you

Try to remember the small details to show that you care. For example, if your employee tells you that their dog has to go to the vets. Try to remember and ask them how their dog is doing the next time that you see them. This will really show them that you care about them as a person and not just as a worker at your company.

2. Keep them in the loop

How unloved do you feel when a group of friends or family keep secrets from you or never tell you the truth? Well, it’s exactly the same at work. If your management team are constantly discussing issues but never sharing the information with their staff, then the staff aren’t going to feel great. Try to be as transparent as possible and don’t hide things from your employees. If you have large teams send out announcements on an employee app, or notify your managers to speak to their staff.

3. Never skip their performance reviews

Believe it or not, employees actually like getting their appraisals. It shows them that you care about their performance and are serious about developing their career. When you skip their performance reviews it gives them the impression that you aren’t really bothered. Make sure you set time aside every month to complete everyone’s assessments.

4. Celebrate everyone’s work anniversaries

Work anniversaries usually go unnoticed but they should be shouted about from the rooftops. Wedding anniversaries are celebrated because they show the commitment and happiness between two people. Work anniversaries should be treated no different. They show your employee’s happiness and their commitment to your business and their role. Give them a bottle of bubbly, or a box of chocolates to show them that you’re grateful they have chosen your business to commit to for all that time.

We give balloons here at Oplift, see Sean’s four-year anniversary balloon below.

5. Let them take control of their staffroom

Send out a survey and ask what employees would improve in their staff room if they had the chance. Try and make as many changes as possible. This shows that you really care about their rest time and that you want to make it as good for them as possible. Suggestions might include bean bags, snacks, brighter decor, a TV, a radio, sofas etc. The list could go on.

6. Send a token of appreciation

It is so important to let your employees know when you think they’ve done a great job. You can do this by simply telling them or leaving a sticky note on their locker. If your staff are always on the move and hard to get hold of, use a digital solution like Oplift Achievements. With this, you can send stickers and trophies to staff when you think they’ve done a great job. Colleagues and managers can send them so you can create a culture of appreciation and respect.

7. Always buy sweet treats

When you have busy non-desk workers they can get tired and their energy levels can seriously dip throughout the day. How much does it cost to buy a big box of Roses, or mini muffins and flapjacks? Buy a load of them and put them in the staff room at least every two weeks to show your staff that you care.

8. Celebrate their outside achievements too

To be a more human employer you need to care about milestones that employees achieve outside of work too. Perhaps an employee got engaged, ran a marathon or became a parent. Celebrate with them by giving them a card, gift, balloon or simply congratulating them yourself. Words actually go a long way in making employees feel valued and they’re a lot better than not saying anything at all.

(Megan our project Manager having her engagement celebrated )

9. Mention their achievements in your newsletter

Your newsletter doesn’t have to be all about you. To really engage employees and make them feel like superstars. Highlight them in your newsletter when they have performed particularly well.

10. Have a suggestion box

Without a suggestion box, your staff will feel powerless to make a change or have their voice heard. When you have one it gives your employees a chance to be heard and a chance to voice some concerns or thoughts that they perhaps wouldn’t get to do. They are ideal for shy employees who wouldn’t usually speak their mind.

11. Invest in modern and easy to use technology

One of the biggest frustrations for employees is having to use clunky and outdated technology which makes their job 10x harder. It sends the message that you would rather save the money for yourself than spend it on technology that makes their life simpler and easier. Virgin Media’s lives were made incredibly easier when they deployed Oplift for compliance. They now have one version of the truth, reports are automated and automatically generated. Before this they were modifying multiple spreadsheets, sending them around, waiting for responses and manually creating reports. Show them you care by making their life easier.

12. Give them a bonus

A lot of companies don’t give anything because they think that they can’t give much. But trust us on this one, employees would rather any kind of extra money than no money at all. Even if you give them £100 it will help them out for the month.

13. Say please and thank you

Never forget to say please and thank you when your employees carry out tasks that you’ve asked them to do. Just because it’s their job to do something it shouldn’t mean that you take them for granted.

14. Have a team lunch every once in a while

Who doesn’t like being taken out for food? This is a great way to build team bonds and just makes a nice change for everyone. If you have really big teams you can split them up and take it in turns for different managers to take each team out to lunch. It can also be a good opportunity for your staff to get to know their managers in a relaxed environment over a tasty meal.

15. Celebrate everyone’s birthdays

You should always make a point of celebrating everyone’s birthday. Ideally, you would get a cake, a balloon, a card or a small gift for each member of staff. If your team, however, is so big that it isn’t feasible to always get gifts you could give them: an extra 20 minutes on their lunch break, let them go home earlier or come in later.

16. Give personal rewards

Don’t just give your employees standard gift cards which are the same for everyone. Give your staff ones that you know they’ll really appreciate. E.g. if they are really into music, buy them music vouchers, if they have a family buy them family attraction vouchers, if they love cooking send them to a cooking class etc.

17. Give them good company discounts

Make your staff feel proud and part of an exclusive club when they join your company. Give them a generous discount as a thank you for being part of your team. One of ASOS’s biggest positives for employees is that they all receive a 40% discount.

18. Try to be flexible with their hours

We know that this one is easier said than done, but if you can be flexible when staff have special requests then you should really try to be. It shows them that you do care about their life outside of work. Nando’s employees love how accommodating their managers are and how they fit shifts around their needs.

19. Care about their health

Caring about your employee’s health is one of the best ways you can show that you care. You can’t put a price on health. See if you can offer them one of, or all of the following: medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, cancer insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, gym memberships or wellness programmes.

20. Invest in their training

Show your employees that you’re invested in them and their career by providing them with top quality training. Send them to a workshop or a training course to help them brush up on their skills. Provide them with easy to use training solutions that they can use when they want to. Virgin Media use Oplift’s microlearning and gamification solutions so that they can flexibly fit training into their routines whenever they want to.

21. Bring in the professionals

Bring in a masseuse or a manicurist for the day to give your staff a well-deserved treat.

22. Bring in the food trucks

This is quite an elaborate one but if you are a big company and can afford it. Bring in a few different street food trucks to give your staff a different lunchtime treat. This is especially good if your employees work on an isolated building site or factory.

23. Let staff take the lead with your content

Rather than writing a load of boring how-to manuals or guides, why not film your staff acting out the steps. Make small movies of them that you can share with other teams. It will make your content more exciting and it will make staff feel more included and engaged.

24. Provide a structured career plan for them

One of the main reasons people leave their job is because of the lack of career advancement. By giving your staff a plan of action to get to where they want to be, you really show that you are invested in their future and you want to see them grow and develop. Set small goals and have a list of tasks or achievements that they have to reach before they can move on to the next level of the plan. For example, a sales assistant can’t move into the position of a team leader until they have – used the till – done at least 10 stock checks – received 15 positive customer reviews – close and opened the shop etc.

Showing your employees that you care about them isn’t just a nice thing to do. It’s actually the best way to reduce turnover and improve productivity. So use a few of our tips and see if you notice the difference.

24 (non-creepy) ways to make your employees feel loved ❤️