Keep Employees Happy: How come there aren’t signs welcoming people to work?
When I enter a retail establishment, hotel, or restaurant often times there are signs that welcome me. I’ve seen signs that read Welcome, We’re glad you’re here, or Please tell us what we can do for you today. There are times when I walk into a corporation and I see a welcome sign or marquis listing for someone important who might be visiting that day. It seems that many companies make an investment in welcoming guests/visitors/customers.
Now in most of the retail cases I wish they would just leave it at the sign and then leave me alone. Like the other afternoon for instance I was navigating a Pier 1 Imports store, trying to spend a gift certificate someone had given me, and I could not seem to race down an aisle or into a corner where some perky little employee couldn’t wait to help me. As a quick aside, to my female readers; don’t give a guy a gift certificate to Pier 1. The smell alone when you walk in there is enough to make us want to gag. Worse is then going home to your spouse or the other guys and have to explain why you smell like potpourri. But I did buy a cool bird carrot peeler and a purple (my favorite color) baking dish.
So these signs started to get me thinking……
How come employees aren’t welcomed to work? Wouldn’t it be great if you walked in the door and it said:
Welcome to Work! We’re Glad You’re Here!
Or perhaps
Welcome to Work! We’re Proud of Your Contribution!
Or perhaps
Welcome! You matter!
Or perhaps
Yay! You Came Back to Play with Us Today!
Why is it that we invite and thank customers into our places of business but there aren’t signs thanking the people who keep those customers coming back………Or coming at all?
Companies are always looking for ways to keep employees happy; a great way – and it’s cheap – is to thank them.
It’s not that hard to keep employees happy. And it doesn’t have to be expensive. But a thank you or a pat on the back on a regular basis makes a huge difference in the minds of the people who keep your company running. When was the last time you thanked someone?
So let’s continue our dream…………
Imagine as you were leaving work each day you read signs like………
Thanks for your contribution!
Or
You rock!
Or
Thanks for your enthusiasm and ideas!
Or
Yay! It’s still light out and you’re going home!
Now I do have to say when I walked into a client location a while back and saw my name on their lobby marquis I was pretty excited. Why not have a marquis that thanks employees. It could be random names in a slideshow type format running at the exits. Perhaps people could nominate others for a significant contribution they made that week. People would be excited; seeing their name or the name of someone they nominated. Nah, skip that idea; my concern is we would get back into the Flavor of the Month or the top performers only. I think everyone that walks through the door needs to be recognized and thanked for their contribution: the CEO, cleaning staff, administrative types; managers; everyone!
I also think you would need to change the signs or marquis text on a regular basis; because after a while they would become meaningless to the people walking in and out the door. You can form a committee or task force to come up with fun sayings. The life of this committee should be two hours; not two months.
Try it and watch the reaction. It’s really not that hard or that expensive to do something to keep employees happy. Make it part of your daily to-do list.
