Oftentimes, and especially these days, cuts are made because of budget restrictions, so it’s not expected that a significant amount of money should be spent on such an effort. But as you’ll see, investing a little in your employees goes a long way to building trust in those individuals and thereby improving performance.

Here are a few simple things that you can do to invest in your employees and boost morale:

• Spend time in praise: One of the best things you can do for an employee is to recognize his or her contributions to the team and the company. The only word of caution is to make sure you understand whether each individual is more comfortable with public or private praise. Depending on personality, you could really punish a person by praising them in public. Knowing your employees better in this way is often achieved with personality tests.
• Reward with time off: Add a day or two to existing paid-time-off (PTO) in order to recognize an employee’s hard work and dedication. Employees value additional time with friends and families, so it will be greatly appreciated and will likely prove to have a good ROI for you.
• Place importance on health: Many studies have shown just how big an impact physical health and exercise has on productivity and overall morale in the workplace. In fact, a study by the University of Bristol in 2005 revealed that employees who exercised for a minimum of 30 minutes during lunch were more productive than those who didn’t. This meant they were better able to meet deadlines, focus on their work, and manage time.¹  Employees have gone on to report that they “just felt better” after a workout.
• Invest in their futures: Training can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Get creative and find ways to leverage the talents and skills within your own employee base for a little cross-training. You can also provide a fun-filled ½ day or full day of teambuilding activities just by exploring these types of activities using a Google search.

Who would have guessed that it wouldn’t be the boomers voluntary leave for retirement that had us all “a buzz” in the year on the brink of that expected mass exodus? Instead, here we sit…in an unforeseeable situation in which the economy has cut a large number of our employees for us instead of allowing the natural aging process to take a smaller number of qualified workers out of circulation.

Now, instead of organizations fighting for a very select few of highly skilled and qualified workers once all the boomers have made their exit, there are hundreds of thousands of highly skilled and qualified workers out there to choose from. The question I am asked all the time is, “How do I know I am making the right choice with my hiring decision?”

While recruiting is a process that takes time and very careful consideration of each and every case, there are some things I advise you keep in mind, including the following:

• Keep an eye on what you have: First and foremost, keep a peeled eye on the talent you are trying to retain. Consider that organizations that have lost their talent due to cuts are going to be developing attractive ways to lure your employees away. Focus first on tactics to keep those individuals before you begin filling new seats.
• Start looking now: Even if your organization is still experiencing hiring freezes, the time to look is now. If you really have your eye on a particular candidate, you can inform them that the company is not hiring at this moment, but you are interested in his/her credentials and will contact him/her as soon as the hiring freeze is lifted. This isn’t the promise of a position, but it will hopefully keep that candidate interested in your organization.
• Keep your focus trained: When the hiring freeze is lifted, you seriously must hire only for talent management and not simply to fill emptied positions. You will achieve a lot more with two highly qualified and passionate individuals than four who require hand-holding and micromanagement.
• Use a professional: It may be shameless self-promotion, but the truth is, using a professional recruiter to help you fill positions will increase the likelihood that each hire is a successful hire. And, in many cases, recruiters will offer a ‘satisfaction guarantee’ if a candidate does not work out…a safety net not available when hiring on your own.