How to Retain Employees with Some Summer Fun

How to attract… then retain employees is a hot topic. This comes especially as we transition out of the pandemic in many parts of the world, and people are re-setting their new normal. In fact, 50% of North Americans plan to look for a new job, once they feel secure that the pandemic is over. And 25% plan to quit their jobs outright. Why? Thirty-five percent cite better compensation and benefits, and 25% cite better work/life balance.

Small businesses often don’t have loads of cash or robust benefit plans to compete, which means that we have to get creative. And You know what we like to say: constraint breeds creativity. So we thought we’d offer 3 easy, low-cost but highly personal ways to have some fun, build culture, and say thank you to your team… which can translate into higher employee retention.

PS – if you’re a solopreneur, this applies to you too! You’re an employee of your business, so don’t be afraid to #treatyoself like one 😉

Hold a monthly happy hour, even a virtual one.

I must confess: I stole and implemented this idea from one of our clients, in fact! Keith Rathbun of outsourced bookkeeping firm Supporting Strategies, started a tradition years ago that was simple and brilliant: a monthly virtual happy hour. His small business has always been remote; and three years ago, he made the decision to put concentrated, consistent effort into building a great place to work.

Once a month, his team, spread across several states, logs onto videocall with a cold one and hangs out together. There’s one rule: no shop talk! He usually prepares a fun, silly question to kick off the convo too. And here’s the key: they’ve operationalized it, so it’s not one of those things that falls away because someone forgot to organize. It’s in the calendar and pre-programmed to be recurring.

Take me out to the ball game.

At least once a year, a team outing is nearly a must-have. Even for remote teams, if at all possible, I think it’s important to get the gang together, maybe meet IRL for the first time, and have some working + fun time together. For example, next week, Dinner Belle is taking their team to the Nashville Sounds game! It’s low organization and effort – but big impact – to get the team out of the kitchen and into a totally different venue for some fun.

Surprise them with bonus time off.

In traditional businesses, this may sound outrageous and an initiative that would require tons of red tape and sign off. But back in June, I decided, somewhat out of the blue, that I was going to close Ellevated Outcomes for a week in August and give the team an extra week off, in addition to the 5 weeks we give, annually (I know, I know – I’m still on Euro time, hehe).

I once heard Gwyneth Paltrow talk about how they close Goop for 2 weeks in August. Everyone in the company is off, so it limits overflow work, meeting takeaways, etc that inevitably happen when an individual goes away.

The beauty of these is that they’re easy to implement, can be low cost, and are actionable. They’re ways to show your team appreciation and have some fun – especially if you’re a small business. We still have a month left of summer, so there’s still time!

What have you done this summer in your business to show your peeps a little extra delight? Are you planning to do anything in August?

image by Karly Gomez