It’s the small things that make a difference

While chatting to several reward directors and employee benefits managers in the pub after the REBA Innovation Day on Wednesday, conversation turned to how small changes can turn 'good' into 'excellent'.

After a day of talking about the big changes happening in benefits tech (which is exciting), it was good to remind ourselves that the little things really matter too.

It took me back to a piece of advice I received while doing a vacation job during my university days for City of Cape Town Libraries. A highly regarded, young librarian advised me: “If you want to get on here, you simply need to stay five minutes extra each day, because everyone else will rush out the door at 5pm.”

Her point being, that to be seen as dedicated you didn’t need to stay hours, just a few minutes puts you into a different category of high potential.

This type of thinking is so true of many aspects of life.

The obvious one for all managers is the seemingly small ‘thank you’ or ‘well done’ said or emailed to their colleagues on a daily basis. It takes seconds, but how much more powerful is it for engagement than trying to compensate for poor engagement with a bigger bonus or more complex reward scheme?

So what small thing can you do today that will have a big, positive overall impact?