MANAGEMENT

Adapted from an article written by  Dan Tynan

1. Flex hours.  Give a little latitude in determining work schedules and to take time for family or personal issues. As long as the employee is deserving and doesn’t abuse the privilege, this can go a long way to building trusting and mature relationships with key workers.
2. Send a handwritten note. Supervisors should ask top brass to write a personal note to employees who deserve recognition. For example, AdvancedMD CEO Jim Pack handwrites his thank-you notes to employees on a $2 bill. “In three years of doing this, only one employee has asked if he could spend it,” said company spokesman John Pilmer.
3. Make work fun.  Create a weekly event to boost morale. For example; ask everyone to bring in a baby picture and post it on a wall, have an ugly tie or sweater day, make it “Hawaiian Day” etc.

4. Lose the shoes.  Implementing a “no-shoes policy” can make employees feel right at home with each other, which translates into increased productivity. But keep the footwear handy in case clients come in.

5. Reward effort as well as success. Even if their ideas sometimes fail, you want employees to keep producing them.
6. Give them a free pass.  Giving out a certain number of free days off to employees to use as they see fit.
7. Dole out cream and sugar. During the busiest times of the year, executives at the Cigna Group push coffee carts around the office, serving drinks and refreshments to their colleagues. As they serve, executives coach and encourage colleagues and hear about real consumer issues.

8. Blow out the candles. Host a monthly hour-long birthday breakfast for any employee with a birthday that month so they feel recognized.
9. Spread the love. Ask co-workers to write something they truly like or admire about an employee on a scrap of paper, then frame them along with a photograph of the employee
10. Applaud their efforts — literally. If someone has done something really worthwhile, have your entire staff give them a standing ovation at the next meeting

11. Say it with flowers.  Reward employees by bringing in flowers and arranging them in a vase on their desks.
12. Elect them to the Wall of Fame. Setting aside a public space inside your firm and placing photos of employees who've accomplished something truly special, along with the details of what they did to earn their place on the wall.

13. Create your own "Club Med." Set aside a quiet space or unused office in your building where employees can meditate, chill out, nap or otherwise re-center themselves. 
14. Give them a place to park it. Reserve the best parking spot for employees who've done something worthwhile.

15. Publicize their successes.  Publicly recognize employees so the whole company can share in their accomplishments
16. Remember the secret words. “The two most underused words in corporate America that get the highest ROI (return on investment) and ROT (return on your time) are the simple words 'thank you.'