The most important people at Square Cow Movers are not the guys at the top, but rather everyone that makes up The Square Cow Movers Team. We believe in a principle called servant leadership. Dave Ramsey is one of the biggest proponents of this style of leadership and we use his materials to learn more about becoming better leaders. If you own your own business or are a leader in the workplace, one of the best things you can do for your employees or those working under you is to serve them. When we say serve, we don’t mean subservient. By serving your employees you are exhibiting how you want them to serve others. Leading through a servant minded example means that bosses aren’t isolated in an ivory tower or leading from above, but rather with their employees.
One of the ways you can increase employee satisfaction and retain content employees is through fostering an encouraging workspace, where employees feel that they are valued. We want to surprise and delight our customers with a superior level of service, so why wouldn’t we want to surprise and delight our very own employees?
This past summer we decided to surprise our staff members with a cool treat on a sweltering Monday afternoon. Square Cow Movers partnered with a local business, Kona Ice Austin, which has a mobile shaved ice truck, to visit our job sites for the day and deliver a cold and refreshing snack to our hardworking moovers. We know that these guys are out there working hard, especially in the hot and busy summer months. We require a lot from our employees, even though sweat may be dripping down their backs, we still want their shirts to be tucked in and for them to always reply “Yes, Ma’m.” If we want our employees to go the extra mile for our customers, we should be willing to do the same for them!
Here are four ways you can unexpectedly surprise and delight your employees to help foster a positive and encouraging working environment
- Lunch is on You! – Treat your staff to an unexpected lunch. By having burritos brought in or taking everyone’s order for their favorite sandwich, you can make everyone happy for a relatively inexpensive amount.
- Surprise Afternoon Off – After a hard, but productive morning, let your employees have the afternoon off. Bonus points if you can manage this on a Friday. Your employees will feel like school kids on a snow day.
- Team Building – A team building exercise doesn’t have the be the staid ropes course everyone is used to. Go see a popular movie with the entire office, host a company happy hour, or let everyone gear up for a friendly round of paintball! Pick an activity that everyone would normally do on a Saturday and have some midweek fun.
- Surprise Bonus or Gift Cards – Bonuses don’t always have to happen at Christmas, an unexpected bonus in April will boost morale. If you can’t spring for a surprise bonus, consider treating some employees who have been working late with a gift card, so they can treat their spouse to a night out.