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Employee Gifts: The Gift That Gives Back

Employee Gifts

With the holiday season beckoning, employers should start shopping for employee gifts sooner than later. Besides purchasing a turkey and coordinating COVID-friendly Thanksgiving festivities, an employer should consider allocating room in their budget for Thanksgiving gifts for employees. Such incentives create a long-standing bond between organizations and employees.

There are other loads of benefits that come with holiday gifts, beyond strengthening employer-employee relationships. For starters, these gestures are a tried-and-true way to show appreciation for your employees’ hard work and dedication. A customized employee gift from Swag Bar also helps your organization in the following ways:

  • Boosts employee morale
  • Increases productivity
  • Gives employees a sense of belonging
  • Gifts are tax-deductible

Research shows that employee gifts are a worthwhile investment in increasing the retention rate. Since these gifts signal that you value your employees, business owners can increase job satisfaction with a simple gift certificate, accompanied by personalized notes. Simply put, employees want to associate themselves (and spend more significant portions of their professional careers) with organizations that value their employees’ dedication.

Why boosting employee retention is a must

Every HR manager has set employee management goals. In some instances, these HR managers may want to reduce employee costs, trim the time spent on recruitment, and improve employee engagement. Regardless of what your company’s goals are, concentrating on your employee retention rate is a practical solution to consider.Ask any HR manager what day-to-day tasks pose the most difficulties. Nine times out of ten, the business’ employee retention rate will stand firmly at the top of their list.

Why? Retaining the right talent sets companies apart from their competitors, making the task at hand irrefutably high stakes. Not to mention, the recruitment of new employees is hugely time and resource consuming. Sadly, there’s not much time for recruitment-based initiatives with HR professionals juggling (and enforcing) coronavirus rules and regulations.

With this in mind, it’s time to take a much-needed second look at your business strategy. Is employee retention high up in your list? Or is it buried deep below marketing campaigns and incoming social media initiatives? While business owners’ day-to-day responsibilities fluctuate depending on the time of year, the one consistent should be talent recruitment and retention. Otherwise, a company risks watching deadlines lapse and sales plummet due to insufficient manpower. Let’s see exactly why you should take your employee retention strategy back to the drawing board.

Reduced HR costs

Perhaps, the biggest reason to invest in your employee retention strategy is the cost-saving benefits of this decision. High turnover rates are incredibly expensive for employers. How? Anyone immersed in the Human Resources industry will be quick to inform outsiders of the overwhelming amount of interviews conducted to fill vacant positions.

Most of the time, these replacements are unqualified, or their pay is way beyond the organization’s reach, rendering the interview time spent a complete waste. Because interviewees tend to exaggerate their qualifications, what seems to be a perfect match on paper may be an inexperienced post-graduate in disguise.Thankfully, with excellent employee retention, you save on the following costs that result from the constant revolving door of management.

  • Severance or other exit costs
  • Lost productivity
  • Costly mistakes as recruits learn the job

Depending on the employee’s experience level and company standing, turnover costs range from moderately high to shockingly high. The worst part of all is that if an employee cycles in and out within a one-year span, it can severely dent a company’s bottom line. Luckily, a high retention rate averts these HR costs that can be incredibly damaging to start-ups and small businesses, in particular.

Experienced employees

The longer an employee stays at your company, the more experience they accumulate. To succeed in their position for several years, these employees must acquire an in-depth understanding of your target customer base, company organization, and workflow. Experienced employees are invaluable, as they assume the role of mentoring recruits.

Staff retention deters employees from leaving with the expertise gained from your organization. Better yet, by retaining them, they can’t take the experience to a competitor.

Increased productivity

Turnover has a direct effect on the productivity of a firm. It leads to stoppages of production due to understaffing. Because it takes time for employees to gel with colleagues and learn the job’s processes and procedures, these abrupt transitions can result in time wastage and an increased error rate. Fortunately, a stable retention rate ensures that the workflow is uninterrupted, leading to increased productivity.

Workplace culture

As a business owner, do you want to maintain your organization’s culture? Employee retention does precisely that. To avoid diluting your organization’s values and culture, maintain a stable workforce.
Additionally, a high retention rate shows that your employees are not an easily replaceable resource. For those still not convinced, an unwavering commitment to retention boosts team morale and helps ensure employees stick around for the long haul.

Career development

Millennials often list ample career development opportunities as one of the top reasons they’d stay in a company for an extended period. Since people are naturally inclined to strive for growth, employees prefer to operate in environments conducive to professional development. Unsurprisingly, a position prone to stagnation or development plateaus tends to be less appealing to prospective candidates.
With this in mind, staff retention enables companies to present long-term career development opportunities. Additionally, it helps nurture employees’ creativity, which is a fundamental ingredient for success.

Loyalty and satisfaction

Long-standing employees become increasingly loyal to your company over time. After committing years of their professional careers to your company’s objectives, these employees tend to want the best for the company and prioritize company success in their day-to-day lives. Such an environment provides fuel for these dedicated employees, leading to increased productivity.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to thank your experienced workers when they decide to retire. For example, if you’re working in the police force,  police retirement gifts are a way to go. It will show how much you appreciated the time they spent working with you and helping you succeed at work.
Additionally, satisfied employees are likely to exceed expectations. They are proactively involved in solving conflicts, sharing experiences, bonding with colleagues, and helping co-workers.

Final word

Staff turnover is bad for business. It’s costly, reduces employees’ morale, and affects productivity. Invest in creative and disruptive incentive programs to increase staff retention.
Fortunately, employee incentive programs are easy to set up and manage. So, there’s no time like the present. After dedicating the time and resources necessary, you may find it’s the solution to the high turnover you’ve been looking for.