PERC Up Your Office During a Recession

Five Tips to Help Your Employees

If There are Layoff Rumors

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Tip #1 - Be open with your employees

   If rumors are just rumors, let them know immediately. You can
tell them that you want to keep as many of them as possible
for as long as possible. If you feel you may have to lose a
couple, let them know why and the time line. Give them the
opportunity to look elsewhere if necessary.
   You won't have to open your books and expose all of your
accounting. They already know if your business needs to
make adjustments, and will automatically think the worst.
Your reality is always better then your employee's imagination.

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Tip #2 - Let them help

   Let them know it is now time to come up with new ways to get
new business and to retain customers. Get them thinking
outside the box. Have contests for new ideas. Give (small)
commissions to everyone from Receptionist to CEO.
   Let your employee's know that if they enjoy working for your
company, the company needs their help to continue and grow.
You will be pleasantly surprised to see who steps up and also
with some of the very innovative ideas they may have.
They were just waiting to be asked.

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Tip #3 - Have options available

   You don't need to spread unemployment brochures throughout
the break room. This wouldn't be good for anyone's morale.
   Let your employee's know that if they are worried, your door
is open during (give certain hours) to discuss options with them.
If there will never be a layoff, this will be the time to re-assure them.
Be very careful. If you make someone employee of the month on
Friday and lay them off on Monday, your reputation in the
community will suffer.
   However, if you are up front with them, tell them you can't
be sure, will try your hardest to keep them on, but
"Here are some options" you will have employees ready to re-join
your company when you are back at full throttle. You can then
be open with them to a point and give them a list you will
have drawn up of websites, businesses, etc. that will give them
the option of sticking with you or going elsewhere.

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Tip #4 - Help them to know what to tell their families

   You may have just laid a bombshell on your friends (if you have
a well-run business, you have some friends at work). Now they
have to go home and take all of the things you told them and
try to download it to their spouses. They will still be a bit
shocked and forget half of what you told them.
   Be specific. Tell them there are no guarantees, but this is what
will happen if the economy continues as it is. Give them specific
phrases they can remember and use at home. Send them to
www. http://survivingarecession.blogspot.com for tips on ways
to save and things to do during layoff rumors.
                  Be supportive.

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Tip #5 - Help them relax

   After such a hard meeting, take some time. Order in a few
pizzas. Let them process everything you have just told them.
           Let them laugh.
   We have all gone through this before and may do so again.
Be ethical, be human. Be yourself.

Who deserves a PERC?

PERC  - Preferred Employee Recognition Concepts is my own acronym.  Everyone else is using the word "perk."  I'm letting you know this right up front to avoid confusion.

Who, then, deserves perks on the job?  Executives?  Management?  How about the Staff?  

On CareerBuilder.com I found some of the best perks for everyone involved:

According to the 2006 Benefit Survey Report from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), here are the top benefits based on employee levels:

Executive-Level Employees:
Cellular phones: 84 percent
Relocation expenses: 71 percent
Supplemental life insurance: 68 percent

Middle-Management Employees:
Cellular phones: 67 percent
Supplemental life insurance: 61 percent
Relocation expenses: 55 percent

Non-management Employees:
Supplemental life insurance: 58 percent
Supplemental long-term disability insurance: 42 percent
Supplemental medial insurance or reimbursement: 29 percent

You will note that the non-management employees realized how important it was to stay connected with their lives, while executive and management levels cited ways to stay connected with their companies.

Just a thought ...

How important are PERCs?

In my very own vocabulary, PERC is an acronym for 

Preferred

Employee

Recognition

Concepts

But how important is it, really, to spoil employees in a time of recession when simply having a job should be enough?  Googletm found out that cutting back may have actually lost them money:

In an article titled: 

'Don't Touch My Perks': Companies that Eliminate Them Risk Employee Backlash' -

Googletm, who has been cited as one of the best employers in America, raised the price of daycare for their employees from $1,425 to $2,500 a month for infants and the cost for two children in the day care program went up from $33,000 to $57,000 a year (nearly 75% raise).  

The two-year waiting list of 700 families fell off by more than half.

Math not being my strongest suit, I haven't sat down to see if raising prices on their employees helped them financially, but I do know it lost them loyalty.  

This is not only applicable in daycare.  Something as simple as starting to charge for the coffee that you have always provided for free can lose you the loyalty and even the employment of some of your best employees.  Be sure you consider the loss in dollars before you start counting the pennies.