As the owner of a small business, you have no doubt heard that Congress isn’t going to bail you out.  It’s up to you.  The massive $787 billion stimulus package contains virtually nothing for small businesses, even though they employ about half of all American workers.  Yes, it’s unfair.  Have a good cry and get over it.  Howard Anderson, profession of entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of management told the Boston Herald, “The small businessman who looks to rely on the government for help is the one who isn’t going to make it out of the recession.”

Aside from the obvious remedies: cut expenses, delay paying bills, ramp up collections, market in low-cost ways, alter your business model — what else can you do?  How about keep your employees motivated?   You can’t rescue your business all by yourself.  You need people in your company to be creative, focused and resourceful. 

Is there such a thing as an incentive that doesn’t cost you money?  Forget about those big Wall Street bonuses.  There are plenty of ways.  Begin by recognizing that money is only one of many factors in employee motivation.  When people enjoy the job, like their co-workers and believe their pay is basically fair, they don’t focus on money.  A Gallup Poll of 540 adults employed full or part time in 2006 found the top three things that made people happy were “doing what suits me best/is fulfilling,” “interacting with the public/helping people,” and “freedom/flexibility to do my job my own way.”  

Here are some low cost/no cost ways to keep people motivated in challenging times:  

• Send out an email thanking people each week:  I like to take a few minutes each Friday to email our team, highlighting something each person has achieved that week.  If you have a small company, you actually mention everybody.  This is an empowering exercise, not only because you make other people feel good, but also because it forces YOU to look at what’s going right!  It will take you away from the worries and restore your faith, too. If you have a larger company, pick out a few people to highlight each week.  You won’t believe the affirming response you get from these communications - I guarantee it will start an electronic chain of congratulations all around.   
• Have a Lollapalooza Day where you connect with customers:  Last year, our firm started setting aside one day per quarter to get in touch with our clients and prospects and find out how they are doing.  We ask them questions about their projects, thank them for the opportunity to work with them, and when appropriate, offer in some small way to provide assistance or advice at no charge.  We write handwritten notes, call, and send emails, often with attachments to articles we think they would like to read.  The result is we often get back heartfelt responses with updates about things that have happened since we last saw them. This is not just good marketing; it’s a tremendous boost for employee morale.  When your employee gets back a note from a customer telling them what a difference they made, they not only treasure it, they share it with others.    
• Use downtime to send employees to seminars where they can learn something new: There are many very low-cost or no-cost professional development opportunities out there.  For example, there’s tremendous value many programs that happen to be marketing events for other companies, and typically they are free of charge.  Many of the area business meetings are low cost and high value, as well.  Think about it — when you’re busy, you often can’t spare your employees for a half day or full day, but by giving someone an afternoon each month, they’ll get a break while improving their skills and knowledge.   Learning is cited as a major incentive by younger generations of employees, although I’ve found good employees of every generation like to learn.  
• Offer employees new projects beyond the scope of the job description:  Another way to provide employees the opportunity to learn and contribute is to empower them to do something important that may not be in their job description.  What needs to be done right now?  My executive assistant just did an amazing job editing two of our new products, booklets called “Jumpstart Sales with Powerful Presentations” and “The Power of Adversity, Communicating with Customers in Challenging Times.”  These are by the way available on our web site in the online store.
• Make it fun to care of office “chores”: We started”office clean up days” a couple of times a year.  They cost nothing but a cheap lunch.  You’re required to come to work in blue jeans.  You get assigned a task in a public area of our office and you get a bottle of Windex, Pledge and a rag.  Everybody organizes files, magazines, equipment, and supplies.  After sandwiches and a good laugh at lunch, we adjourn to our offices to bring order to the chaos there. You wouldn’t believe what a great feeling everyone has when they walk out the door that night, knowing they’ll be coming back to a clean, organized, more inviting office the next day.
• Hold morning “Standup Meetings”: We instituted these 15-minute sessions at the beginning of this year and the result was amazing - now, each morning, before we head to our own office or cubicle, we stand in a circle and share what’s happening.  Without really planning it, this evolved into a positive conversation about what’s ahead for the day.  Even when we face challenges or disappointments, people are there to boost each other and offer help.  It’s an empowering way to start the day.  Try it. You’ll find that instead of watching people head to their offices where they’ll feel isolated or overwhelmed, they’ll share, get energized, and feel more prepared to tackle the tough stuff.
• Bring people together to share business success stories:  In my new book, Motivate Like a CEO, I talk about how important storytelling is to boosting employee morale.  When you uncover stories about your successes and communicate them to the team, they get excited.  Get the group together.  If you’re a small company you can invite everyone.  The pre-meeting assignment — come in with a story about a successful project or customer interaction.  Explore what you learned how it can be applied to your present situation.   And then write down these stories and use them again in the company newsletter, employee presentations, and those Friday emails. 
• Small gifts make a high impact:  When someone does an outstanding job and goes far above expectations to deliver, it is especially motivating to recognize them in a special way, even during lean times.  Do something meaningful for that individual.  Give them an extra day off; let them bring their dog to work one day; give them a small gift certificate to a local restaurant, beauty salon or hardware store they like; take into consideration their hobbies, interests, and family.  The more personal the gift the more appreciated it is– especially in tough times when they understand that money is tight.
• Consider a 4-day work week for the spring or summer:  This isn’t just good for your bottom line; it could improve morale and mental health.  If it makes sense for your company, you can avoid a big layoff and keep your valuable team intact.  Offer across the board pay cuts but give people a four day work week.  Of course there is financial hardship but you avoid the stress of deciding which employees have to go, as well as the inevitable survivor guilt felt by those who keep their jobs.  People may use that time for personal pursuits, to spend time with their kids or elderly parents, exercise more regularly, or something for themselves.  While there are hardships involved in pay cuts, you may find that for a period of time, people will actually appreciate the time off.
• Use the company newsletter to highlight successes: Again, this sounds like a no-brainer but if you have a newsletter, make it something people enjoy reading!  Tell them about all the cool and useful things they are doing.  Ask employees to contribute stories.  Don’t fill it with stuff nobody wants to read.  Be creative in looking for fun ways to reward and recognize good work.
• Create employee awards and hand them out often:  Many large companies have employees of the month, why can’t you?  Better yet, how about an award for Idea of the Month, or another award that reflects your goals and values. Purchase a few trophies and give them out monthly. These are always best when they encourage employees to do the things that are going to make a difference in your business.  Big companies do this and so can you. 
• Walk around often, and tell people they’re doing a great job.  Sounds simple, but in times like these, we tend to hunker down in our offices and stare at balance sheets.  Our energy is low and our anxiety is high.  When you feel stressed, your instinct is to dump it on whoever walks in the door.  Don’t!  Instead, make it a point to stop people in the halls, go to their offices, and thank them or congratulate them every day.  Tell them how much their work means to you, and how vital they are to the future of the company.  Let them know that you believe in them.  Leading is not shifting your worry list onto others.  Come up with a positive message and focus on their contributions. 

I’m looking for more ideas from you!  Send me your creative ideas on no cost and low cost ways to motivate employees!  Respond to this blog, or, send me an email at info@bates-communications.com

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