According to TalentLMS, less than half of employees feel appreciated on a regular basis, while 36% claim their contribution is only acknowledged through appraisal programs.
Feeling valued at work has a major effect on employee morale. Research consistently demonstrates that happy employees are far more productive than their unhappy counterparts. They are more engaged in the workplace, work better within teams, and display greater interest and involvement in contributing toward company goals.
All these are vital for a positive work environment and culture. They have an undeniable impact on your organization’s bottom line, too. Happy employees, for instance, tend to stick around longer. The result is improved retention rates and reduced costs of hiring and onboarding.
High employee satisfaction and lower attrition also bode well for your business reputation. A great place to work signals potential employees, suppliers, business partners, and investors of a strong organization that nurtures long-term partnerships with its stakeholders.
The fact is, making employees feel valued at work has far-reaching benefits for both staff and the business. But it takes much more than an annual appraisal to make your teams feel appreciated. Here are proven methods to recognize their contribution in a meaningful way.
Set Up Incentives and Rewards
Competitive salaries are a basic necessity to let your staff know how much you value them. Raises, bonuses, commissions, and other performance-based incentives will also matter when it comes to remunerating employees for their efforts.
However, top organizations deploy indirect incentive programs, too, to reward their people. These can range from free health checkups, spa treatments, and massages to free lunches, snacks, and laundry services and reimbursement of regular expenses.
Create Flexible Work Arrangements
Your employees may have personal circumstances and responsibilities that could immensely benefit from a less rigid work model.
In such instances, the freedom to work outside the regular work patterns and norms could be an excellent option for rewarding your team’s hard work and contributions.
Flexible practices convey trust as well—an essential component for strengthening work relationships.
So, for example, consider implementing flexi-schedules that allow team members to come in late and stay back to complete their work. Remote-working facilities are another option that offers greater flexibility to work from home. These are important perks your team will appreciate.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
If you want your staff to know how much you value them, create opportunities for better work-life balance. This could mean giving them paid time off, encouraging them to prioritize vacation time, and avoiding meetings and calls during late evenings and weekends.
Such practices are critical for preventing stress and burnout and maintaining optimum workforce productivity. They also convey that you care about your team’s mental and physical well-being.
Provide Work Autonomy
Displaying trust is an effective reward for recognizing performance and contribution. One way you can demonstrate this is by offering substantial autonomy for an employee’s work responsibilities.
When team members know you trust their ability to deliver, they will reciprocate with increased commitment and ownership, in turn, creating a win-win for everyone.
However, ensure you define expectations and provide employees with the necessary resources to perform their work. Replace excessive follow-ups and micro-management with periodic reporting and be there when your team needs support and advice.
Seek Input
When you encourage feedback, suggestions, and opinions, employees will feel valued and recognized.
For instance, get your team involved in departmental goal-setting initiatives and ask them for input on improving customer processes. But don’t just stop there—ensure their feedback is considered and implemented wherever possible.
They will get more involved and take a greater interest in championing organizational activities when they feel heard, respected, and valued.
Implement Reward & Recognition Programs
Award ceremonies and monetary rewards are not the only ways to recognize outstanding work.
For many employees, a simple letter of appreciation or a word of recognition in front of their teams can go a long way in making them feel valued.
You can use newsletters, company-wide emails, and meetings to highlight exemplary contributions. Many organizations also use “employee of the month” programs and lunches with senior executives to appreciate top performers.
However, keep in mind that the type of recognition valued by staff can vary based on demographic and psychographic factors. So, getting employees’ input to identify effective rewards is always advisable when designing R&R programs.
Establish Career Development Opportunities
You can help your team members achieve their professional goals by investing in training programs, assigning them to new projects, providing additional responsibilities, initiating mentorship programs, and creating ways for them to gain greater visibility within the organization.
All these will help them develop skills and accumulate new experiences vital for career growth.
Creating career paths and promoting instead of hiring are equally essential practices for allowing employees to progress within the organization without seeking opportunities elsewhere. These approaches will benefit the company, too, by eliminating the costs of hiring, onboarding, and training new recruits.
Celebrate Successes
Recognizing and celebrating achievements, no matter how small, is crucial for team morale.
So, make every moment of success, whether it is hitting a sales target, launching a new product, or acquiring a new client, a time to celebrate.
But don’t just limit them to work achievements. Remember to acknowledge and appreciate important personal events of your staff as well—from birthdays and weddings to the arrival of a baby.
Make Time for Your Team Outside Work Hours
Coffee, lunches, movies, and sports events are excellent options to strengthen work relationships with your teams beyond the workplace.
But first, find out their personal interests with a quick name search on Nuwber. This could help you come up with ideas to create better rapport and interact and engage with employees in meaningful ways.
Final Thoughts
Making your employees feel valued at work is vital for creating a productive and engaged workforce. Ultimately, happy and satisfied people show greater commitment and deliver better output, benefiting everyone within a workplace.
However, when deploying techniques and programs to appreciate and recognize your staff, design them with care to ensure transparency, objectivity, and fairness for all.
Also Read: Work-Life Management: Thriving Beyond the Balance Myth
