Rewarding Your Employees During the Holidays

Online, October 17, 2009 (Newswire.com) - With the holiday season just around the corner, business owners may be wondering if and or how they're going to be able to give their employee a holiday bonus. With the economy in its current state, budgets are low and there may not be funds to give employees what they are used to around the holiday season. Although you may not have the budget to hand out your normal holiday gifts and bonuses, there are other options available to reward your employees for their hard work through the year.
• Provide extra vacation time-allow employees to take an extra vacation day or two around the holidays
• Have a holiday party-pick an afternoon where you can close your business early to have a holiday party
• Provide your employees with an afternoon of service-a great example of this would be having a massage therapist come in and have your employees enjoy a free massage
• Gift cards-in a tough economy it's always nice to have necessity items covered. Giving your employees gas or grocery gift cards is a great idea
• Pay a bill-help your employees out by paying a bill for each of them. You can set a limit on the amount that will be paid
Budgeting and planning for things including year-end/holiday bonuses, especially with the current economy, is never easy. Small business owners may not have anyone who can help them with this. Resources such as a Board of Directors or top executives may not be available. There are alternatives out there to help small business owners with the challenges and opportunities they face in running their business.
The Alternative Board® (TAB) is an international provider of business coaching and peer advice.

TAB is comprised of non-competing businesses owners who meet in a safe, confidential environment. Established in over 1000 cities worldwide, TAB Boards® meet in the business owner's area once a month in a 'think tank' atmosphere. During a TAB Board meeting, owners receive the benefit of the collective experience of the board members, who offer practical solutions to business problems--not theories. Along with peer advice, TAB also provides each business owner with a personal business coach who they also meet with once a month and are able to further discuss issues that were presented in the board meeting or perhaps issues they didn't feel comfortable bringing up to the board.
Benefits of being part of TAB include:
• Having a sounding board of other experienced business owners to bounce ideas off of
• An environment in which you share your expertise and help out other business owners
• A confidential atmosphere for you to share very sensitive information in-there may be issues going on in your business, such as finance problems, staff or HR issues, etc., that you can't discuss with others in your company
For more information on The Alternative Board® or to find a board near you, please visit www.TheAlternativeBoard.com.