The cost of caring

The day before our company takes a day off for Christmas, we always bring our whole company together for breakfast and a meeting.  We do the business of what is happening with our benefits and how you can access them and use them to the best benefit.  We also talk about our 401K plans, the importance of investing with a long term plan so you don't sell low and buy hi, but rather play the market for the long term gain.  And then Rick, my partner and I, try to be inspirational to our whole crew.  Rick talked about teamwork, I talked about our competiveness, thanked the guys for caring about working hard, and related the results that they have given us to being more aggressive in getting more work.  I wanted to connect for them how they contribute to the success of our company.  And then I talked about the need to have humility.  The belief that I don't have what it takes to get where I would like to go, but with others, the possibilities become amazing.  We then get done by 10 am and give them the rest of the day off.  It has become an annual shopping day for many of the guys, a day they look forward to beating some of the last minute crowds.

After the meeting, I was having guys come to shake my hand for a good year and one of them commented on how when we do this meeting, the year end party we throw for the men, and the clay pigeon shoot we do in the summer, the men that work for us feel and hear that we really care about them.  For the year end meeting, and the clay pigeon shoot, we actually pay the men their wages to participate, as well as all of the expenses for the events.  The year end party, we really do it up nice at a nice hotel that is not located convenient for Rick and I, but rather the most centrally located venue for all of our men.

And because we care about them, they care about the job they do for us.  And they then talked about how much better it was to be on a job where people cared.  So my question is would you rather take two days and spend them, in order to have men that care about the company the other 248 days that they work for you in a year.

What is it worth to have 2066 hours worked by people that care, verses 2080 hours worked by people that don't care?