Employee Appreciation: Steps to improving productivity at work

The first Friday in March is set aside to appreciate employees all over the world. For 2022, employee appreciation day falls on the 4th of March. Do you appreciate your employees? How do you plan on appreciating your employees this year? Your employees aren’t just a couple of people on your payroll, they are humans valuable to your business.

You might be an expert but you’d never be able to do everything well, save time, make tricky business decisions, interact with customers among other tasks and not break down. According to Ranbir Kapoor, not only are employees improving the business, good people make the workspace a good place to be.

6 ways to appreciate your employees

According to Pamela Stoko, an HR thought leader, recognition & appreciation is the new talent contract. People want to know they matter and they wanted to be treated as people. You might not be doing this thus far but now is a good time to start. While you may not have resources set aside for this purpose, here are some thoughtful yet cost-effective ways to appreciate your employees.

1. Thank you notes/emails/SM posts

A small “Thank You” makes the Employees Go The Extra Mile. You don’t have to restrict it in your office. Send out a general mail, put up social media posts to show you appreciate what they do. Employees do better when they know their work is valued. Thinking of the right words to use, visit bizedgeapp.com to use explore the free document generator.

2. Encourage peer to peer appreciation

It’s awesome when your employer values what you do but having your colleagues also appreciate that you’re a part of the team cannot be quantified.

3. Create a wall of fame for your employees

Dedicating a wall space in the office for employee appreciation, with their pictures and contributions is a good way to brighten the workspace and recognise efforts. If you’re a strictly remote business, creating a recognition channel in your workspace (e.g on slack), a recognition highlight on the business Instagram account etc are substitutes for the hall of fame.

4. Give rewards, incentives, bonuses

Added to base pay for achievements, to show gratitude to employees who meet longevity milestones, or to entice not-yet employees to join a company’s ranks, employees always appreciate the extra cash. According to payscale, 65% of employees prefer bonuses based on personal performance.

5. Happy hour

We know there are targets to meet and we often have chill time at the office, but today is really a special day. You can dedicate an hour on this day to let employees gist, have shout outs and give customised appreciations. there can be gifts and lunch as well. This will improve employee engagement and give a sense of inclusion as well.

6. Ask your employees

You can send a form to everyone in the office asking how they would love to be appreciated. Ask them to nominate employees for special recognition as well. Read our article on how employee inclusion would help improve retention.

4 reasons to appreciate your employee(s)

1. Cost effective

While employees are excited and motivated by payday, that is only one day out of the entire month. For the rest of the days, the employees often have to go through many hardships at work. And these hardships deserve more than just a handsome salary at the end of every month. You might be a growing business but remember as humans, we develop the zeal to do more when we feel appreciated and employees are no different in this regard.

2. Employee retention

Appreciating your employees is one way to keep them loyal to your business. Click to check out our article on employee retention here.

3. Increased productivity and engagement

Once employees feel valued, they give back. It’s a law that guides humans. According to Simon Sinek’s golden circle model, when people are financially invested, they want a return but when they are emotionally invested, they contribute. Always remember, your employees are people.

4. Employee advocacy

Your employees will, without any prompting from you, speak about your business positively to incoming employees. They can go as far as facilitating conversations they would not otherwise have and form trusted knowledgeable relationships. As of 2018, 82% of employers rated employee referrals above all other sources for generating the best Return On Investment (ROI) – Source: Career builder.

Conclusion
Be careful to be as open-minded and unbiased as possible when appreciating employees. Whichever way you choose to appreciate your employees, bear Mary Kay Ash’s words in mind; “everyone wants to be appreciated, so if you appreciate someone, don’t keep it a secret”. Are there other ways you’ve explored not listed above? Leave a comment, we’d love to learn from you.