By Debbie McCarter

To retain top talent for your business, it’s important to first hire the right individuals. Once you have the right employees in place, it’s also important to keep them happy to get them to stay.  From our experience in retaining employees, sometimes it’s the smallest things that go a long way in keeping them engaged and motivated.

Here are some examples of things we have done that have made a difference for employees:

1. Giving someone a couple of hours or a half day off with pay from work when they go above and beyond on a special project or excel in their position.
2. Giving them a gift card to a movie theater, a restaurant, or iTunes (even if it is just $10). Employees will appreciate it, even if it’s a small amount.

Hair stylists appreciate creativity, so finding some fun and interesting rewards for hitting performance goals can have a big impact. The rewards can be for individual performance or for the team reaching a goal. You might consider paying towards a benefit such as dental or vision insurance, since it’s a small cost. Or just a kind email or note will let them know how much you appreciate all the work they do for you.

All employees seem to want more money, but when that’s not possible, sometimes the small things can work well.