How can companies boost employee morale and drive high performance?

The simple answer is doing the little extras beyond compensation to demonstrate commitment to your employees.

Yesterday I shared lessons from Green Goldfish in Dallas at #TaxGrowthCon.

We examined how companies go above and beyond to create signature extras.

While collecting 1,001 examples of employee lagniappe, a few key themes emerged. Specifically, the different types of Green Goldfish can be categorized as the 3 B’s.

Here are 10 of the 15 types:

1. BUILDING: RECRUITING & ONBOARDING
Attitudes begin to form at the initial point of contact with an organization. There is no better place to start than when you are recruiting and eventually welcoming new employees to your company. Research shows that employees make the critical decision to stay or leave within the first six months. When new hires participate in an onboarding program, the company can maximize retention, engagement, and productivity.

2. BUILDING: SHELTER
Pure and simple—space matters. It sets the stage for how you both work and interact on the job. Beyond functionality, the physical environment should be able to tell the story of the company.


3. BUILDING: WELLNESS
Getting to the heart of your employees involves wellness, little extras designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace and improve health outcomes. Without health, we have nothing.

4. BUILDING: TIME AWAY
A recent survey polled over 200 employees from 98 companies to find out what rewards they valued the most. Across all ages and cultures, time off was absolutely number one.

5. BUILDING: TRANSPARENCY
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Transparency creates a trusting environment.

6. BELONGING: FLEXIBILITY
Flexibility is about control, and everyone wants flex. According to research, if there’s one work perk that rises above the rest, it’s flexible work arrangements.

7. BELONGING: TEAM BUILDING
Success is frequently seen as a purely individual achievement, often at the expense of others. But in the corporate world, an organization can only thrive with the collective help of everyone. For employees, being part of a team helps create a sense of belonging.

8. BELONGING: ATTABOYS AND ATTAGIRLS
Reaching the heart of your employees involves recognition. “YOU MATTER.” These two words can change your mood, change your mind, and have the power to change lives if we leverage them in the right way.

9. BECOMING: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Investing in your employees involves training and development. Going the extra mile to allow employees to learn how to become the best version of themselves.

10. BECOMING: PAYING IT FORWARD
Embracing purpose and giving back to society are strong drivers of employee engagement.

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Stan Phelps

Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.

Find Stan’s in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, and Goldfish tank programs at StanPhelps.com.