For many, the holidays are a time of great joy and celebration. They are also a time of great spending. According to Gallup, the average American will spend $885 on gifts this holiday season, which doesn’t include the money they will spend on travel, food, drinks, parties and other festivities. Workplaces will also indulge, spending, on average, $79 for each employee.
Often, these organizations are well-intentioned in their desire to recognize their staffs through gifts, a thoughtful if not easy gesture at a natural time of the year when gift giving is expected. Some gifts that workplaces give are thoughtful while others are practical and useful. Others don’t make it past the garbage can in the breakroom. Whatever the gift, most organizations lack understanding of and appreciation for what their employees really want.
Your staff doesn’t want you to simply spend money on them.
Your staff wants you to invest in them.
And there are two main ways to do this.
INVESTING IN YOUR TEAM
There are many important ways you can and should be investing in your team. Some of these will cost you money while all of them will require your time, attention and intention. I know it can feel that you simply don’t have any to give, but here is the truth- by not investing this time, money and attention to develop and support your staff, you are going to lose them. I can practically guarantee it.
You will lose some to other departments and some to other organizations. Many will stick around but will do so without motivation. As a result, you will expend your time, money and attention on managing performance issues and the deep black hole of hiring and orientation. Either way, as a leader, your staff will require your investment.
Professional development- Offer worthwhile, salient, effective training and development opportunities for your team. You can do this in house or bring someone in. You can send your staff out to attend trainings, workshops and conferences. You can give them access to coaching and mentoring. You can lend books and forward information on webinars. There are endless ways to provide professional development opportunities, but don’t let this overwhelm you. Work with your staff to find and secure these opportunities in a way that is beneficial. Allow staff to have agency and ownership over their own growth. Keep them invested and energized in themselves and your organization by continuously and sincerely offering continued development.
Resources- Conduct a sincere audit of the systems, resources and infrastructure at your organization. Ask your staff what resources they need to do their jobs better. Ask them to prioritize. Ask them to be realistic. Depending on your organization’s needs and budget, you likely won’t be able to upgrade everything at once, but you may be surprised at how much you can improve your staff’s day to day experience for little or no cost. Really listen and appreciate the frustrations and challenges your staff are experiencing that are preventing them from performing more effectively. Do what you can to make their jobs as easy and smooth as possible.
Enough staff– Too often, organizations particularly in the nonprofit sector are understaffed. Sometimes this is temporary, and other times, organizations are perpetually understaffed. Don’t overwork your dedicated staff to the point of burning them out and pushing them out the door because you don’t want to spend money on another person. Instead of saving you money, this approach will most certainly cost you money in the long run. Burnt out, overworked staff lead to higher rates of turnover in addition to lost institutional wisdom, experience and knowledge. Make sure you are realistic in what you expect of your team and make sure there are enough people to accomplish it. If you simply don’t have the budget, be creative. Evaluate if interns, Vista, Americorps or other low/no cost programs may work for you.
Yourself- (see below)
INVESTING IN YOURSELF
One of the greatest gifts you can give to your team is being the best leader you can be for them. To do so, you need to invest in your growth, consistently and intentionally. Like the investment in your staff, this investment in yourself will require effort, time and yes, money. Do it anyway, knowing that the investment you make in yourself will pay for itself and then some.
This investment may include courses, conferences, training or coaching. Whatever plan you choose, it will require time and effort. Learning to be a strong leader and continuing to grow as one takes time you will often feel like you don’t have. Make it. Create it. Find it. The time and effort you put into becoming a stronger leader will increase your effectiveness. With this increased effectiveness, you will experience increased productivity, impact and staff retention for your team. This investment in yourself, when done well, will produce dividends that will be easy to see and justify.
There is nothing inherently wrong with spending money on gifts for your team this holiday season, or at any time of they year for that matter. Your staff works hard for you and you literally could not do your work without them. Gifts are a wonderful way to show your appreciation, but this should not be the only way you show your appreciation or the only time you spend money on your team. In addition to a holiday token of appreciation, focus on investing in your team rather than simply spending money on them. Do this by investing directly in them and the systems that affect their work as well as by investing in yourself to become the most effective leader you can be. Yes, this will require time, effort and money but all of these will be well worth it in the long run. As you close out the year and look ahead to a new one, develop a plan of investment for you and your team. Then, sit back, enjoy and watch your investment grow.
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