Employee Appreciation

Humans have a need to feel appreciated in both their personal and professional lives. However, it is easier to show appreciation to people in our personal lives. As a result, leaders are not as forthcoming with showing appreciation in the workplace.

Think about it: when was the last time you gave or received appreciation at work? If the answer was recently, congratulations, you are one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately, many employees rarely receive appreciation from their leaders. Showing appreciation is the best and most efficient way to promote a positive work environment. Organizations demonstrate appreciation for their employees through recognition and reward.

 Showing appreciation may sound like a small act. However, it is a big part of an organization’s culture because what gets recognized and rewarded gets replicated. Recognize. For recognition to be most effective, leaders must first understand how each of their employees prefers to be recognized. Not all employees are the same; therefore, their desire for recognition will differ. For instance, some employees might welcome praise in a group setting; others might choose to receive words of affirmation from just their direct leader.

Another example of recognition is simply saying thank you. You would be surprised how much of an impact those two words can have on employee morale. Verbal thank-yous are good, but written thank-yous are better. Composing a handwritten note (or email) shows that you thought enough of them to take time out of your day and express your gratitude. I guarantee they will not soon forget your gesture. Also, they now have something tangible to refer to for inspiration or to increase their intrinsic motivation.

Finally, remember that recognizing a team is great and necessary, but that should not replace showing appreciation to the individual employee. Reward. While recognition is employee-specific, rewards should be consistent among all employees. The process of rewarding employees should be fair and equitable for everyone in the company. In addition, the rewards process should be communicated and understood by all employees beforehand. Employees should know what the requirements are to receive a reward and what the prize will be. Some examples are gift cards, jackets, vacation days, or whatever works best for your employee population.

 Organizations should consider if the reward will be based on production, performance, volunteering, etc. Next, the reward should be distributed uniformly. If the reward for reaching a specific production metric is a gift card, then all employees who reached that metric should get the same amount on the gift card. The only exception would be if the reward program is points-based and those points are tied to different amounts on the gift card. However, even with that system, every employee with the same amount of points should get the same gift card amount. When it comes to delivering rewards, uniformity and consistency are vital.

When employees feel appreciated, the organization benefits through lower turnover and higher engagement. Employee appreciation is about celebrating their achievements and encouraging their development. Leaders who want to motivate their employees to improve their performance should start by showing appreciation. Also, organizations reinforce their company culture by ensuring the behaviors that are recognized and rewarded align with the company values.

Click below to download a weekly checklist that will help you keep track of your progress toward increased employee appreciation.