A company’s employees are just as important as the customers that provide revenue for it.

Engaging workers and keeping morale up will have a positive impact on your business. When employees are happier, they can assist customers better and could potentially stay with a company longer. A 2015 study showed that 66% of employees who were happily engaged in their job stated they had no plans to leave their current company, while 88% of disengaged workers said they had plans to leave. Those numbers may not seem too important, but it generally costs around $10,000 to replace a single employee. That’s a lot of overhead, especially when one or more employees are considering a career change. So, how can companies engage their employees more in their work? Work schedule, pay, and benefits are things that drive employee’s satisfaction with their job, but the one we’re going to focus on today is signage.

Using Signs to Boost Employee Morale

Interacting with employees and encouraging communication is the first step to a happier workforce. A few ways to do this with signs include: • Ask for input and ideas by placing a whiteboard or chalkboard sign in your office, and encouraging employees to write their thoughts down throughout the week. • List your open communication policy on a banner or sign to remind employees of the type of environment you share. • Ask HR or management to free up block time during their week to interact with the team, and promote that time via sidewalk sign or banner. • Ask for feedback on new ideas that have been presented to the company using an erasable sidewalk sign, or just write an inspirational phrase each day on the board. • Recognize success and accomplishments publicly. Everyone wants to be acknowledged when they do a great job, so posting great achievements will boost morale and possibly create a competition between employees who want to be recognized. • Create a sense of purpose beyond work. Participate in a charity event that involved your employees, like March of Dimes, Relay for Life, or a Salvation Army blood drive. Order a sign or banner that shows customers the charitable and generous side of your business. This gives employees something to be proud of as well. Offer a place for local charities to place a donation box or tin if you have room and hold competitions to see which shift can raise the most money in a week.

Using any of these ideas, you can begin to build boost employee morale and create a fun, fulfilling workplace for your workers.

Not only will you have a happier office, but having happier employees will ultimately save your company money. In the US, about 30% of employees are looking for new work in the next 12 months. By finding ways to boost employee morale now, you can save your business thousands of dollars in hiring and training costs. Because signage is such an affordable business investment, using different signs and banners to boost morale in your office will help to improve employee satisfaction without disrupting your operations budget.