Two focuses of my blog are Organizational/Management Discussions and Workplace Discussions. Workplaces can very chaotic and competitive in nature. If you have a staff of employees, one of your most important jobs is making sure that they feel appreciated. The following contributed post is entitled, 7 Practical Ways To Show Employees You Appreciate Them.
* * *
Image Credit: Lukasbieri from Pixabay
When was the last time you did something for your employees? You could assume they’re there simply to do their job and earn a paycheck. That often isn’t the case. Instead, they’re there because they’re passionate about your business. They actually care about it and its success.
If they don’t receive the same kind of recognition in return, they’ll likely stop caring. That could end up in them doing the bare minimum in their roles, and they might even consider leaving the company. You’ll naturally want to avoid that.
By using a few ways to show your employees you appreciate them, you can do exactly that.
Importance Of Showing Your Employees You Appreciate Them
Before you find out how to show employees you appreciate them, it’s worth looking into why you should do it. Showing employee appreciation boasts multiple benefits, many of which will affect your entire company. They’re more than worth the effort you’ll put into showing your employees you care.
Some of the largest benefits of showing employee appreciation are:
● Better Productivity – If your employees feel like you don’t care about them, they’re less likely to put as much work in as they can. They’ll simply do the bare minimum. Once they know you care, however, they’ll be more likely to go above and beyond. You’ll have a more productive workforce before you know it.
● Improved Brand Reputation – Your branding doesn’t just affect how potential customers see you. It also affects who wants to work for you. The better your brand, the better-quality of candidates you should have applying to open roles. By putting effort into appreciating your current employees, you can attract a stream of high-quality candidates.
● Building Trust – The more your employees trust you and your company, the smoother your business will operate. The opposite of this is also true. There are quite a few ways to build trust with employees, but showing your appreciation is one of the more notable. The more consistent you are with this, the more your employees will trust you.
● Decreased Turnover – If employees feel like they’re not appreciated, they’re not likely to work for you for long. They’ll end up getting increasingly fed up with their job and will start looking elsewhere. It’s difficult to leave a job you care about, and showing employee appreciation is one of the most notable. The more you show your employees you care, the less likely they are to leave for another company.
With the benefits it offers, it’s worth figuring out how to show employees you appreciate them. There are more than a few ways you can do this. Seven specific options stand out, as they’ll be practical to implement and will have a significant impact.
You’ll see the benefits of employee appreciation in no time once you’ve started using them.
How To Show Employees You Appreciate Them: 7 Top Strategies
1. Make A Day Out Of It
Setting aside specific days to show employees you appreciate them can be an appealing option. It sets aside time specifically for your employees and rewarding them. You can choose from countless employee appreciation day ideas, many of which will be effective.
By spending time and effort into planning this and following through with it, it’ll be more and more effective. Doing this regularly, such as once a month or even yearly, makes it something your employees will look forward to.
It could even serve as motivation for your employees to work harder.
2. Recognize Winners
Some employees will put in much more effort than others, while some will be more effective at their jobs. These will be the employees that regularly outperform and exceed their targets. By having an employee recognition program, you can reward these employees based on the work they do.
Implementing this program not only rewards employees who go above and beyond, but motivates others to do more. It also serves as a fair way to reward workers based on what they do. It’ll improve your employees’ productivity more than you think.
3. Get Them Food
Everyone likes free food, so why not consider feeding your employees regularly? You wouldn’t need to put too much effort into this, and it mightn’t even cost much money. Partnering with a local restaurant could mean it won’t be expensive, and you’ll have a quick and easy way to feed your employees.
Doing this can be especially vital if employees ever need to work late. Go a step further by giving your employees the time to actually enjoy this food. Make it a mandatory break so they can take the time they need to enjoy the food. This approach can even strengthen interpersonal relations between team members, adding to the effort you put into it.
4. Move Away From The Desk
It’s not uncommon for employees to go above and beyond for the company they work for. They’ll work extra hours, come in early, and much more. In these cases, it’s worth giving back to them as much as you can. Since they could give up personal time to work these longer hours, you can give them this time back.
If they worked an extra two hours on a Monday, why not encourage them to finish two hours earlier on Friday? While this is a small and simple way to show your appreciation, it shows your employees you respect the time they put into your business, as well as their life outside of it.
While this could take some balancing with time and similar areas, it’s an effective way of showing your employees you care.
5. Get Social
You could think that showing employees you appreciate them has to be a private thing or done in front of their team members. It doesn’t have to be. In fact, it could be much more public than you would’ve thought. Sharing milestones and celebrating your employees on social media can be an effective way of showing you care.
There are more than a few things you can share online when doing this, including:
● Work anniversaries
● Birthdays
● Achieving a certain number of sales
By sharing this on social media, you’ll see more benefits than you could be aware of. Outside of showing your employees appreciation, this could be better marketing and branding for your business. It shows potential customers you care about the people you employ.
It makes them more likely to buy from you or want to work for you.
6. Send Them Shopping
If you’re on a tight budget, ongoing rewards mightn’t be financially feasible. That doesn’t mean you can’t splurge every once in a while. Sending your employees shopping can be one of the most effective ways of doing this, as it lets them pick what they buy, which could be much more appealing.
One of the more practical ways of doing this is to give gift cards to particular stores that you know your employees like. Even an all-in-one gift card can be an option. While you’ll have to keep this within your budget, it’s worth making these gift cards worth as much as possible. Your employees will appreciate it much more.
Make sure the stores you buy the gift cards are for places your employees are likely to frequent anyway. It’ll make sure they appreciate the gift cards even more.
7. Gamify It
Corporate gamification can be a great way to show your employees you appreciate them while keeping things fair. It makes sure the appreciation and rewards you give out are based on merit rather than personal opinions. The process involves giving your employees points based on what they do.
While this can be done for their core duties, you could weigh these points toward anything outside of their core tasks. By doing this, you encourage employees to go above and beyond while rewarding them for it.
The trick to this is making sure these points are tied to something tangible. Let employees cash in their points for rewards when they want. You’ll have multiple potential rewards to choose from, such as gift baskets, paid time off, and even cash bonuses.
Have your employees help come up with what rewards you should implement to make sure the rewards are something they’re actually interested in. It’ll make sure they’re motivated to earn them.
How To Show Employees You Appreciate Them: Wrapping Up
Figuring out how to show employees you appreciate them can be difficult. You’ll need to make sure whatever strategy you use isn’t just appropriate, but that it’s something your employees will enjoy. That can be a tricky line to balance.
There are a few practical ways to show your employees you appreciate them. Using a few of them can be more than enough to show them you care. While it takes some effort, the benefits of doing so are more than worth it.
Gamifying the process, getting social, making a day of it, and similar strategies can all be worthwhile. Your employees will know you care, and you’ll have a happier, more productive workforce than you would’ve had otherwise.
