Employee appreciation is not always at the top of a company’s list. It can go overlooked for a long time, only seeming to surface when an issue is brought up or maybe one of your best leave the company since they feel under-valued. There is a lot of time and money that goes into finding the right candidates, hiring them, and training them. Why, then, would a company not continue to show their appreciation in order to keep their employees happy?
Giving appreciation to staff is not a complicated ordeal. The easiest thing you can do to show your staff encouragement is to offer them praise. If an employee goes above and beyond what you expected, tell them. If you were really impressed with a presentation one of your staff gave, let them know. This is more than offhandedly tossing them a “good job” email. Instead, meet with them in person and tell them that you appreciate the work they did, what may have impressed you about it, or how happy you are to see how far they’ve grown in their role. This is the kind of encouragement that will increase morale and motivate your staff.
If you’ve mastered the simple art of verbal praise, then it may be worth it to expand further into different forms of recognition. This could include bonuses (“on the spot”, quarterly, annually, etc.), hosting an appreciation day (staff barbecue or an office potluck), or giving an award for service (a plaque or something engraved). Any of these are great for making your staff feel valued and letting them know that you have noticed their hard word.
Employee appreciation is not just for the benefit of the staff. The better your employees work, the more productive they will be and the more likely you will be to keep the good staff and to lower employee turnover. It also makes it less likely that staff will call in sick or avoid work. The stronger the employee, the stronger the company!
