Employee appreciation should not be reserved for one day but should be integral to your company culture and be an all-around attitude that management adopts. Employees are the most precious asset for every business. However, some businesses show more care and concern for maintaining equipment than letting their staff know that they are valued and appreciated. Employee appreciation is one of the cost-effective ways to increase a positive culture and positive customer experience.
Although most HR professionals and even leaders understand the importance of recognition in the workplace, embedding and building a culture of appreciation doesn’t happen by accident. Organisational leaders must take clear steps to ensure everyone (and every team) is participating in recognition.
When you think of appreciation, you probably think about plaques, trophies, or gift cards. The reality is that employee appreciation can take many forms. When an employee says “they don't feel appreciated,” it can mean anything from wanting more money as appreciation or maybe a desire for more spontaneous verbal appreciation.
The goal of this article is to help HR people and leaders understand the different types of appreciation in the workplace. And how this knowledge is fundamental to creating a culture where employees feel valued and appreciated.
Celebrate Employees Birthdays
Birthdays are very important and are needed to be celebrated. Celebrate your employees birthdays. Get them meals or cakes so everyone in the office can take part. Get them gifts and give them a day off if possible. Make it easy for your staff to show appreciation for each other.
Go Public With Your Appreciation
Show you appreciate your employee publicly by extending it beyond in-house recognition. Let your customers know through signage or on social media by talking about how much you appreciate what your employee did and how they earned this award
Reward Your Staff Based on Individual Interests
Showing appreciation in a manner that is unique to each person is what says “I appreciate you really well” If you really want to show how much you appreciate an individual, the best way to do it is to find out what they really like, what they’d be interested in, their hobbies, or what they want the most. Also, an actual certificate or letter thanking a staff member for their work can go a long way.
Give Employees Real Choice and A Real Voice
Appreciation should be built into your culture. One way to do that is to give your employees real choice and actual voices, i.e. giving them the opportunity to choose a project they would love to always work on, listening to their ideas or concerns, and actually taking action on them. Genuine appreciation is foundational. You can give a staff member a gift card on their birthday, but if they have come to you repeatedly with concerns, suggestions and recommendations and you have never made any real attempts to implement them then there is an issue too.
Offer Treats To Your Employees
Who does not like a surprise treat that no one expected? It should not be all about work only, Have a pizza lunch. Share some chocolates , cakes ,ice cream, cookies, plan a weekend full of fun and entertaining activities just to make your staff feel appreciated.
Put Your Staff Image On Your Website
Take a look at your website. Is it bragging about the leadership only? Is there any staff there? Is there an opportunity for customers to get to know your staff before they show up on the premises? While it might not be feasible to put everyone on your website, consider putting a fair number of staff on your website and letting them write their own bios.
Celebrate all the Time
Beyond birthdays, celebrate employees together on other special occasions like holidays, meeting projects or sales goals. Celebrate the anniversary of an employee’s hire, and reward them for staying.
Encourage Continuing Education and Mentoring
Whether you help pay for education or are lenient with time off so that staff can attend educational events. Show you appreciate them so much that you want them to continue to grow in their career. And, as staff member increases their qualifications, promote them. Few things are as frustrating as working hard to be the best possible only to have a boss who locks you into a dead-end job. Organise a mentoring program for your staff, as it helps to place the staff in a place of importance and authority.
Create an Employee Appreciation Day
You have employees who are doing incredible things. Designating a specific day to celebrate these achievements is an opportunity to appreciate them within a group. This can go a long way in boosting morale. Create a company swag for the staff, this could be a pocket notepad, stickers for phones, water bottles, and so on.
CEO for A Day
Reward staff with the chance to be “CEO” for a day. Obviously, you won’t give them the company checkbook, but you can let them sit in on meetings, sit in a private, front office, and any other perks the manager at your business might have. It gives your staff a taste of what it's like to be in charge. That might change their attitude on some things they may have been complaining about, and it might encourage them other to work hard for promotion
Last but not least: Say thank you
When was the last time you simply said thank you? Some owners take for granted that employees are there to do work assigned to them and think that because it is expected, there is no need for a thank you. A thank you, whether the work is required or not, is such a simple way to show appreciation. You might not think it matters, but there is a noticeable attitude difference between a staff whose boss genuinely cares about them and thank them periodically compared to one where the staff never hears it. While not everyone needs a “thank you” to do a good job, many do. It won’t hurt those who don't need to hear it, but it will mean much to those who do. It’s easy to get caught up in the fun and obvious methods of staff appreciation, but the one method you can start right now, that will register immediately, that will make a change in a person’s day, is to say thank you. In a sometimes thankless world, just hearing another person acknowledge that they know we are working hard and that they are thankful for it is all the appreciation we need to get through the day.
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