How many of you leave work every day thinking, “My boss doesn’t appreciate me?” Well, you are not alone. A Gallup poll revealed that 65% of people say they don’t feel appreciated at work.
I worked for a company where I was a one-person HR department. I managed, payroll, medical and other benefits, employee relations, recruitment (full cycle), immigration, employee relocations, 2 international offices. Despite my boss being very aware of all my responsibilities, he assigned me the task of putting together a family event that included the coordination of finding a venue, hotel accommodations, flight reservations, and gathering more than 75 employees and their families from across the country. It took months of preparation, coordination and hard work.
The event was a success. I was very proud of how everything turned out. Employees and their families were happy and thanked me for days, weeks, and months after the event. Despite its success, I did not get feedback from my boss. Months later, during my performance review session, I expressed how disappointed I was that I did not receive any feedback from him. He said that he thought he had given me one. He then gave me an ‘after-thought’ feedback.
Liz Jazwieck, author of Eat that Cookie!: Make Workplace Positivity Pay off…For Individuals, Teams and Organizations says that employers who don’t put gratitude on a pedestal, especially in today’s high-stress work environments are shooting themselves in the foot.
When employees in the workplace do not feel appreciated, the overall work environment is hugely impacted. Productivity decreases, morale is low, and turnover increases. And those are the exact symptoms I experienced. Even though the passion I had for my profession remained strong, after years of not being appreciated or recognized (and more focused placed on mistakes), I became demotivated; and I eventually left that company.
A simple “thanks” would have been enough
“Thanks for putting together this family event, while still performing your regular duties…” would have been enough words to make me feel valued. Managers believe in the power of thank
Recognize Effort
Recognizing and appreciating employees should be a year round activity and not be relegated only to performance review season. Appreciating and giving employees positive recognition is important for their continued growth and motivation. “Acknowledging employees’ efforts motivates and inspires much more than many people realize. It’s also easy to do and doesn’t cost a thing,” says Joyce Maroney, director of The Workforce Institute at Kronos. http://www.workforceinstitute.org/
Bob Nelson, creator of the “Employee Appreciation Day” over 20 years ago, lists five effective examples of employee appreciation:
- Managers should thank employees who do a good job.
- Managers should ask employees for their opinions.
- Managers should involve employees in decisions that affect them.
- When an employee makes a mistake, managers should focus on what that employee has learned from the mistake.
- When employees have good ideas, managers should let them pursue them. (“It’s called autonomy,” Nelson said.)
In summary, appreciating your employees will increase your employee retention and job satisfaction. Communicate with your employees and let them know that you value and appreciate them and their work.