Make sure you give your company a pat on the back, too

Get help from PR to promote your great company culture for Employee Appreciation Day

Your employees are one of your company’s biggest assets, and March 6 has been designated as Employee Appreciation Day for you to acknowledge their hard work. As you take this time to recognize individual achievement, you can also use this day to show off your company’s value as a great place to work.

Having a reputation as an employee-friendly organization has numerous benefits. PR explains why and shows you how to take advantage of it to increase your visibility and profitability.

The importance of being a great place to work

You already know that employee appreciation can save you the time, headache and considerable expense of finding and training new employees to replace those who leave. Additionally, while you’re trying to attract the best and brightest people to join your team, those job applicants are also doing their homework, researching your company online to gauge your reputation and get a sense of what it will be like to work for you. A company’s online reputation includes public perception of your brand, quality of customer service and how well you take care of your employees.

According to research conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute, approximately 95 percent of the CEOs of companies that made the list say that getting credit for having a positive company culture has directly affected their profits. Also, happy employees mean satisfied customers and more sales.

How you can boost morale and profits

Recognizing employees doesn’t have to be about expensive lunches, days off or a basketball net in every cubicle. There are many creative ways to honor your workers, attract consumer interest and raise your standing within your industry, and PR can help.

Provide opportunities for employee input and feedback. This will allow you to correct or adjust issues before they become problems. In addition, this action is a very useful part of crisis management.
Show support for employees who aren’t afraid to move away from their comfort zones. Be receptive to new ideas. You never know where the next profitable initiative will come from.
Find other ways to offer perks. A special parking space or even just a thank-you note from the CEO can do wonders for productivity and still save you money.
Encourage employees to write comments for online business review sites. Don’t offer rewards for this behavior (because then it’s not strictly voluntary), but you can explain to them how your company may benefit from having a positive online reputation. That, of course, is good news for them, too.
Create a new slogan that demonstrates how much you value your employees. You can put this on your website, in email signatures and in frames around the office to publically display your commitment. Customers and prospects alike will recognize and appreciate this effort.
Allow employees to assist with social media efforts. When carefully monitored, social media can be an effective way to distribute your messages and culture to potential customers whom you may not be able to reach in traditional ways. This could include posting photos of company events or tweeting about the work day.

How to promote your company’s great culture

Social media initiatives, new slogans, website updates and news releases are just the tip of the iceberg. The right PR firm can take your unique story, company traditions or business philosophy and develop distinctive campaigns that will get you noticed by customers and key stakeholders.

Let the professionals at Axia help you spread the word about your company and get your company on those Best Places to Work lists. Contact us today or register for our 60-Second Impact to learn about all the tools we have to help you attract talent and boost your profitability.

Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter @axiapr.