Hiring Wisdom: Simple Things You Can Do to Engage & Motivate Employees

Some of these things cost no money at all, just a little time and effort.

Open and frequent communications to build trust (never lie or color the truth).
On-the-Spot Rewards and Recognition programs – which ANYONE can give to another employee for a special reason (the other employee addresses and solves a problem that is not their responsibility to fix).
Saying “thank you” for a job well done (give them Certificate of Achievement to hang in their office or cubicle).
Gift cards for outstanding achievements (or tickets to a sports event, concert, or movie theater).
Dinner for two.
Challenging new projects (rotate people in and out of projects).
Temporary assignments/cross-training (work in other departments, becoming an interim team leader while team leader on vacation/holiday, etc.).
Take a sincere interest in their families (partner’s name, number of kids, where they live, etc.). Use this info in your discussions with them from time to time.

This was originally published on Mel Kleiman’s Humetrics blog.