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Burlington, NJ—Employees who feel appreciated and empowered are more likely to be productive—and less likely to want to leave. Higher performance and lower turnover is a win-win for you, and best of all, there are some simple, cost-free (or at least very low cost) ways you can make that happen. Here are four of the easiest:

1. Share. 16 years ago, I had to go on bed rest for the last three months of my pregnancy.  I loved my job, and both wanted and needed to return to work after my daughter was born. But being away from the store for what was to be seven months could have made me feel disconnected and out of sync. Instead, the best thing the owner of the company did for me was to keep me in the loop by sending me bi-monthly care packages which included all trade journals, dog eared and highlighted with what he found interesting and pertinent for our company, plus catalogs of new merchandise we were going to be carrying, and a handwritten note making sure that I felt included in whatever “news” was happening at the stores.

Did this cost him anything? No. Ok, so there was the small cost for shipping the periodicals, but today you could do this by cutting and paste on a digital document and emailing it for free.

One of the most important things you can share with your employees is knowledge and information: what is new in merchandise coming to the company, what changes are going to occur within the company, and so forth. Your associates spend over 50% of their waking hours there; they need to feel a part of things in order to be happy.

2. Appreciate. It costs nothing to be appreciative; to say thank you and to take a moment to give sincere praise for a job well done. Whether this is done in person, over the phone, via email, or by a short written note, it means a lot and costs very little.  If the company or someone within the company achieves a big success, let the people who helped get you there know they’re appreciated. 

Most companies recognize the employment anniversaries of their employees and sales achievements, but how many recognize their employees’ wedding anniversaries or children’s graduations? Appreciating the spouse and children who give up their parent for the months of November and December can be a wonderful thing and a unique opportunity to build positive feelings. 

3. Work. It means a lot to have a person who is in a position of leadership roll up their sleeves and help out on the front lines. When an employee sees the chairman of the board picking up a bottle of Windex and cleaning the showcases. it speaks to the fact that we all share in the running of the company and there’s no saying “that’s not my job.” So if the vice president of the company sees the repair department is backed up and people are waiting, he or she should jump in and help, not just delegate it to someone on the sales floor. (It goes without saying that they should know how to take in a repair properly so it doesn’t come back to haunt them.) It’s another opportunity to teach by example.

So take off the jacket, kick off the heels, and help unload the truck! It will build a feeling of camaraderie and fun.

4. Teach- Take time on a Saturday to hold a fifteen-minute meeting and teach the staff about something, whether it was the new product you saw in Basel or a new technique for enhancement you learned about from GIA.  Knowledge is only good when its shared, and when your staff sees that you are willing to share your knowledge it can only be seen as a positive.  Spend some time on the sales floor, listen in on sales presentations, and if you have information to add that would help close the sale do it.

5. Encourage feedback. Make sure the employees have a secure method of feedback. You want your associates to care about the company.  You need to provide them with a secure method of giving feedback and offering suggestions and critiques.  Whether this is done via your human recourses department, department manager, or an anonymous suggestion box, an outlet will help improve morale, especially if you take the suggestions and critiques seriously. But if you ask the employees for feedback and then ignore the entire negative, you’ve just lost a huge source of improvement.

None of these suggestions cost much, if anything, but the returns can be huge.

Born of the minds of two women with an educated passion for fine jewelry and the art of its design, Fiabane & Kroh specializes in fine jewelry appraisals, sales training and consulting. With a foundation built on time honored jewelry practices and knowledge of current economic climates, Fiabane & Kroh aims to inform and inspire with an innovative approach. Visit www.fiabaneandkroh.com or email info@fiabaneandkroh.com.