Embroidered Company Shirts Just for Your Company

Times are tough out there. Everyone knows it. We hear about it daily and feel the pinch each morning we walk into work thankful we still have jobs.  Companies have cut cost, employees, perks, and bonuses. Employees have taken pay freezes, pay cuts, and unpaid furloughs. Everyone is pitching in to keep the boat afloat.  There are some hidden costs, however, that may not be directly in the ledger book, but have a real cost just the same.  The cost is the overall affect on employee morale and, subsequently, on employee production.  Many workers derive a great deal of esteem and morale from their sense of belonging to their particular company.  Many things illustrate this sense of belonging they get from the company from titles, to office space, to company apparel. Wearing embroidered company shirts or getting their nameplate on their desks means a lot more to the employee than the dollar amount might indicate.

Companies often underestimate the value of this camaraderie that is developed by these symbols.  Corporations are keenly aware of the cost of turnover, but seldom take advantage of inexpensive ways to brand themselves in the minds of their employees. Simple things like embroidered company shirts may like a cost easily cut, but the ramifications of morale and loyalty may end up costing several times over the savings gained by losing the shirt program.  Employees are much less likely to jump ship for 50 cents an hour if they feel appreciated, recognized, and a part of the company culture.

There are a lot of pressures placed on companies to demonstrate evidence of belt tightening. They ask themselves how they can have their employees running around in embroidered company shirts when the economy is so bad. But management has to think beyond just today and just appearances.  Management needs to covet their most valuable asset: an employee with a good attitude.  An employee who is acclimated to and comfortable in the corporate culture will far out produce an employee who feels faceless and marginalized.

The cost of embroidered company shirts may seem superfluous and easily cut.  The resonating affects of lower production and increased turnover may be felt long after the economy recovers.  Companies should find every opportunity possible to make the employee feel that they have a strong identity within the company and are recognized for their unique contributions. The steps companies can take to accomplish this type of corporate environment are very inexpensive when compared to training new employees or trying to regain a corporate feeling of trust and goodwill with its employees.

Times like these do call for cuts, but companies should be reluctant to make cuts that dehumanize their workforce. One of the things that makes us feel alive and human is our sense of identity.  Identities need to be created and recognized within the corporate structure.  Every opportunity should be taken to grant an authentic identity to the employee.  Simple symbols like embroidered company shirts can pay dividends long after the recession is over.