Employee Appreciation Is More Than A Yearly Event
March 2nd was employee appreciation day. The topic should be on every boss’ mind, but if you are only recognizing your employees once a year, you’re way off mark. Research shows that happy employees are more productive (by 31%) and sales and work accuracy see huge boosts. The easiest way to make your employees more happy is to acknowledge all the effort they put in for you.
Make Work More Fun
Companies that focus on their internal culture have the right mindset. Though, it is unrealistic for every company to have an in-house gym and spa. There are real ways to make coming to work more enjoyable for everyone. If departments are separated into teams, have the teams challenge each other to meet big goals on a regular basis. Have regular lunches that are work-free zones so employees can get to know each other and their supervisors. Whatever the size of your team, there are ways to incorporate a fun and energized attitude in the office.
Daily Appreciations
Acknowledge your employees efforts on a regular basis. If someone nails a presentation, make sure they know you think so. If a team member goes above and beyond for a small project, thank them in an email, brief conversation, or post-it left on their desk. Knowing that their work is appreciated helps encourage harder work in the future and makes employees happier to stick around.
Larger Acts of Appreciation
Beyond the small regular acts of appreciation, it’s important to remember to recognize your employees in big ways every now and then. Maybe organize a quarterly outing or celebration. Yearly Christmas parties are often used for this purpose, but maybe you add in a summer picnic so your employees feel important more than once a year.
Encourage Appreciation Amongst Employees
Make it understood that employee appreciation doesn’t just have to come from management. Encourage an atmosphere of peer-to-peer appreciation. One of our favorite ideas is the weekly trophy concept. It looks different in every company but basically it starts out by management rewarding an employee that nailed a complicated project, exemplified a company value, or something along those lines. That person is awarded the weekly trophy (could be any trinket or silly crown). After the initial week, management is hands off and the crowned winner passes the trophy to another employee they want to recognize the next week. Programs like this encourage employees to look out for ways to show their appreciation to each other. Being recognized by your boss is a big deal, but your coworkers making it clear that they love working with you can be an even bigger deal.