You don't need to break the bank to improve employee morale

With increased work hours and constant layoff rumors employees are in dire need of some holiday cheer this season. Who better to ask on how to make them happy without breaking the company's budget than employees themselves?

A recent survey asked over 1,000 employees about the best ways to improve morale at their own companies. The survey results found that it doesn't take much and one of the common misconceptions by corporations is the belief that you have to throw an expensive and elaborate "AIG sytle" holiday party and give large bonuses to make employees happy.

The survey found that many employees do not like going to the "mandatory" holiday party. They don't like that you can't bring your significant other and feeling like they have to put in face-time and schmooze with the bosses. Most importantly they don't enjoy the unsettling feeling of the eyes on their back monitoring the number of drinks they consume and bad dance moves they make. Remember Seinfeld's Elaine at her holiday party? As one employee in the survey said "I looked around at the extravagant crystal chandelier, open bar, sushi station and dance floor with no one dancing on it and I'd much rather have the $150 that it cost per person for this event as a gift card and a simple thank you."

The survey found that employees are looking for simple niceties that bring a little bit of fun and a lot of respect into the workplace. Here are the top ten answers employees gave that you could use to put some holiday cheer back in your employee's corporate step.

1. Organize potluck lunches over the holidays as a great way to bring work teams together in a casual and fun environment.
2. Break up the monotony of the work-week by sending out a fun trivia question where employees can win inexpensive prizes like cups of coffee, and movie tickets.
3. During the Holidays give employees half-day Fridays for the whole month or let employees go home an hour early if their work is done.
4. Incorporate employee discount programs that are free for companies to provide employees with perks to local restaurants, spas, sporting events, amusement parks and shows.
5. Have an optional charitable service day once a year where employees can volunteer for different causes as a team.
6. Reward an individual employee for a project that is well done with an extra day or half-day off.
7. Once a month send out a positive email that recognizes individual employees for specific projects that were particularly well done and give them a small non-monetary reward. During the holidays give a bigger reward to 10 employees that were acknowledged the most over the course of the year.
8. Arrange one week during the holidays to hold a lunchtime "board game Olympics" where employees can bring their favorite board games and play each other during lunch.
9. Bring in a chair massage therapist, nutritionist, yoga instructor to help reduce stress and promote overall health.
10. Express your respect and appreciation for your employees often and with sincerity.

Jonathan Rapoport is founder of Great Work Perks LLC, a free employee discount program. Visit www.greatworkperks.com

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