Much of what I share with HR That Works Members comes from my study of marketing. Take any marketing book, replace the words “client� or customer,”� with “employee”� and you’ll learn a lot about improving the HR function. Consider the time-tested marketing formula: Cost, ease, and impact (which you’ll find in the Form of the Month spreadsheet) and ask yourself, “What’s the cost of this item, how easy is it to implement, and what’s the bottom line impact?”
For example, a hand-written thank-you note provides a low-cost, easy to implement, high impact motivational tool. In Harvey Mackey’s “Swim with the Sharks,”� he shares how he built his business from thank-you notes. This raises two questions: (1) How many thank-you notes to your employees have you written lately? and (2) Have you mailed these notes to their homes which shows the employees’ families that you acknowledge the contributions they make at work?
The Retention Program Possibilities (Form of the Month) document offers dozens of ways to show your employees that you care. How you do this is secondary. A final bit of advice: The greatest benefit is the one that’s least remembered. It’s usually the frequency of showing you care that matters the most.
