Like many companies, Inova Solutions has had to tighten its belt during the recession. But that doesn’t mean we’ve taken our eye off the ball in terms of employee retention. Attrition costs companies a considerable amount in lost productivity, and the process to rehire can often be lengthy and expensive as well.

For these reasons, our management team has made it a priority to keep employees happy, even if monetary bonuses aren’t in the cards right now. So what can a company do to improve employee morale on a small budget? We recently formed a committee to discuss just that. Here’s what we came up with:

1. Listen to your employees. Sometimes just giving people a forum to voice their concerns or suggestions is enormously cathartic. It is good to know that the powers-that-be hear you and plan to address the issue. Even if the answer is “no,” it is better to have the question raised and addressed publicly so you can explain the reasoning behind a particular policy. At Inova, we’ve chosen to create an anonymous online suggestion box to suit this purpose. And to discourage non-constructive criticism, we’ve established one rule: If you make a complaint, you have to suggest a resolution (no “complaining just for the sake of complaining” allowed). Then, our CEO will address some of the suggestion box items at our quarterly company-wide meeting.
2. Feed the masses. Food is the universal motivator, and our committee decided that holding regular events with food will bring everyone together and give us something to look forward to. This doesn’t have to be expensive – last month we offered a pizza lunch and the month before a bagel breakfast. It didn’t cost the company much, but it was much appreciated.
3. Recognize unsung heroes. While bonuses and prizes are great to receive, the best part about a recognition program is often simply the fact that someone noticed your hard work. To ensure that those getting kudos aren’t just the managers’ favorites or those with quotas, we plan to open up our program to the whole company, inviting anyone to nominate a colleague for recognition. Thank unsung heroes at a company meeting and let them know how much you appreciate their commitment. It will mean a lot to the recognized employees, and may even motivate others to go the extra mile.
4. Casual Friday. At Inova, we’re lucky enough to have a business casual dress code already, but companies that require suits and ties, take notice. Your employees hate it. And as long as you’re not meeting with clients, why not encourage the team to dress down one day a week (or every day)? It won’t cost you a dime, and it is great for morale.

These initiatives work at our company partly because they are employee-generated ideas. “Mandatory fun” initiatives doled out by management can sometimes be counter-productive, so how about forming a committee of employees to take this on instead? Our committee consists of representatives of different departments across the company and it has worked great for us so far.

How about your company? Have you implemented any low-cost morale programs that have been really successful?