While the summer months mark the mid-year for many businesses, other companies (like my own), are just wrapping up their fiscal year. With that comes preparation for the year ahead, both strategically and financially.
Budgeting season represents both a time of reflection of the year that was and a time to plan for big initiatives for the year ahead; however, the budgeting process should not just account for operational costs such as employee salaries, rent, software upgrades or fleet maintenance. While those are critical expenses, it is important to consider the future of your company as well, such as supporting employee retention, as well as recruitment efforts.
Here are some other often overlooked budgetary items that I would encourage you to allocate funds toward in your next budget cycle.
1. Professional development: Ongoing education and training for employees and yourself is essential. Online training can address virtually every role in a company, whether as one-off webinars or subscription services for continually updated, focused content. These options are usually lower in cost as compared to attending offsite training seminars and can be done in smaller time increments to fit into daily workflows.
There is also no shortage of industry training events and conferences dedicated to specific functional areas. Talk with employees and find out what they would like to learn about in the year ahead and strategize how that can also support your business objectives. Take the final step by allocating some dollars.
2. Employee morale: One of the most often overlooked budgetary items. While there are plenty of no-cost ways to boost morale (expressing gratitude either privately or publicly, having a food truck come once a week, etc.), you should still plan on spending some money on celebrating and appreciating your employees. It can be as simple as hosting a company lunch or a happy hour once a quarter, but do not let such activities be a budget afterthought.
3. Wellness initiatives: Most working professionals have realized that work-life balance is not a simple yes/no checkbox when looking at prospective employers. Employees have figured out that they are responsible for their own balance, but the employer’s role is providing the resources that support an employee’s quest for such balance.
Wellness programs can take many forms – some are directly tied into insurance premiums; others programs involve companies helping to offset gym memberships or other fitness programs. Find out if your insurance company offers wellness programs or discounts and build in additional budget from there.
4. Corporate responsibility: Businesses can use the established platform of their community or industry to affect important social causes. It is easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day operations at any company, but it is important to carve out time and budget for your company and employees to perform work that benefits others.
Some companies provide days off so employees can work for the charities; other companies will close for an entire week to do public service work. Those options definitely produce more of a budgetary impact, but something as simple as sponsoring a shelf at a local food pantry or buying toys for children at the holidays is a good start. Corporate responsibility programs are also a key recruitment factor, especially for young professionals; not to mention, it is simply the right thing to do.
Getting Started
I challenge you to begin the process of budgeting for at least one of the four items mentioned and see how it impacts morale, retention and the quality of new recruits.
It is ok to start small and realize the effect of what will work well for your employee base first. For example, do not install a gym at your office right away – simply offer to reimburse some amount of your employees’ gym memberships instead and see who takes advantage.
A little budget goes a long way alongside well-meaning intentions. These programs are not frivolous expenditures – they are investment dollars for your people, the thing that matters most to the continued success of your business.
Kim Garcia is Director of Marketing for PSA Security Network. To request more info about PSA, visit www.securityinfowatch.com/10214742.