It’s the season of expressing gratitude and, as a business owner, this also applies to your employees. Showing employee appreciation for your team builds morale and confidence, but the benefits don’t stop there.
Employees who feel valued at the workplace:
- Trust their higher-ups
- Feel invested in the goals of the company
- Have a lower turnover rate
- Contribute to a stronger company culture
- Increase productivity
For instance, according to Globoforce, 86% of employees shared that they could trust their leaders who had shown them recognition over the past month.
Simple acts of employee appreciation, not just this month but over the entire calendar year, can make a huge impact on your company’s ability to work as a team, long-term growth, and, especially, your bottom line.
Employee Show Your Team Every Member Has Value
When brainstorming ways to express gratitude, focus on how you, as the leader, can make each person feel valued. That might mean handwritten notes after an accomplishment, no matter how small, or a gift card to recognize those who have gone above and beyond. Maybe simply including recognition in an email or newsletter, or pointing someone out at a company meeting could go a long way.
Encourage your employees to get involved. Allow them to give a shoutout to a fellow worker, or offer thanks to a mentor. Including these gestures makes praise and teamwork an integral part of the culture.
As you offer employee appreciation, be sure to personalize it. Many employees won’t take a blanket “job well done” as authentic. In addition, avoid discussing employees with their co-workers in a negative light. Staff members will then be concerned they are being talked about as well, prompting a more toxic and competitive environment to form.
Offer Opportunities for Anonymous Feedback
Distributing regular pulse surveys, or retrieving anonymous feedback in other ways, give employees confidence that their contributions and thoughts matter to the company at large.
After you’ve received the survey results, be sure to meet with the team to acknowledge the feedback and relay the next steps. That way, they know they are being heard and truly a part of the system. Inevitably, through these actions, they become more passionate about the success of the company.
Provide Learning and Advancement Opportunities
Providing for, and most importantly, footing the bill for professional development can increase employee satisfaction by letting your team know you value their unique value and expertise. This can be in the form of tuition reimbursement for company-related classes, setting up peer learning groups, or sending some team members to a conference.
Learning opportunities can also be in the form of giving employees opportunities to cross-train with each other, or setting newcomers up with a mentor. Such programs establish more camaraderie, promote collaboration, and set up individuals for success.
Build Strong Interpersonal Relationships
When working to build a team, keep in mind that’s exactly what you are doing: building a team. Showing employee appreciation in a way that also allows interpersonal relationships to grow is a win-win. And that’s on top of the fact that spending downtime with team members builds opportunities for collaboration, boosts morale, and encourages employee retention.
Something as easy as shoutouts on social media where others can comment and acknowledge that person can help any employee feel important to the company. Events to socialize, such as happy hours, birthday celebrations, team lunches, or even group volunteer opportunities, can make employees feel like an integral part of a team.
As your company’s leader, making the added effort to talk about lives outside of work and check in with them promotes loyalty and trust.
Prioritize Mental Health
Mental health at the workplace is top of mind these days. Showing you care about your employees as individuals can help make your company one that benefits, rather than erodes, that mental health.
Work-life balance especially can help reduce employees’ stress and eventual burnout. Including remote work when possible, avoiding communication after hours, and incorporating self-care into the workday can show your team how much your company values them.
In addition, providing considerate compensation packages that include paid time off and health benefits sends the message to employees that they matter.
Here’s your November challenge: take this month as an opportunity to hone your employee recognition programs for 2022. A little extra effort in this area reaps immense benefits.
Reach out and talk to us about how you can make employee appreciation an integral part of your company culture.
