Making Sure You Are Appreciating Your Employees Past March

What an amazing Employee Appreciation Month last month! It was amazing to see what different companies did to let their employees know that THEY MATTER.

At Marketing Company, Ground Truth, they used the opportunity to organize a whole health and wellness day to allow employees to de-stress. Johnson & Johnson’s month ranged from free coffee days every Wednesday, a no-meeting day to allow employees to focus on themselves, and free lunches.

From free bagels to days off- it can be easy for the real message to be hidden. It can be easy to forget that showing your employees they matter is an integral part to the success of any business.

“Appreciation can actually optimize productivity and hard work, as 9% of employees like to receive a “thank-you” in the form of more responsibility”(Bob Nelson PhD)

Can you believe only 1 in 3 workers in the U.S. strongly agree they received recognition or praise in a span of a WHOLE WEEK at work? (Gallup Poll) This is a huge missed opportunity for employers to boost morale, productivity, and engagement in the workplace. No company likes to search for new employees every few months, so put effort into engaging the ones you have by letting them know they are valued.

The big question is, how do we give recognition to our employees as part of our culture? Is it free bagels every week for the whole year? Days off? Teambuilding sessions?

Employee recognition is not a one size fits all model. To make recognition effective it is important you gather feedback on what recognition and appreciation means to your employees.

Getting to know your team is step 1. Then, sending out a survey periodically of what recognition means to them can help set the ground work for more ideas

In that same gallup poll, the top six methods are outlined below:

• public recognition or acknowledgment via an award, certificate or commendation
• private recognition from a boss, peer or customer
• receiving or obtaining a high level of achievement through evaluations or reviews
• promotion or increase in scope of work or responsibility to show trust
• monetary award such as a trip, prize or pay increase
• personal satisfaction or pride in work

Once you recognize some of your team’s preferences, think of a cadence to practice appreciation ideas. Gallup recommends a weekly appreciation exercise, with some being bigger than others, however every team’s needs are different!

Some ideas in line with the top six methods you can try with your team could be:

Recognition Website

On your team website or page, create a section to highlight employees on their achievements and when they go above and beyond at work. Have a new post every week about someone.

Host a Team Awards Ceremony:

Bi-Anually you can host a mini awards ceremony where superlatives and certificates are given to employees to recognize the projects/work they’ve been doing.

Employee Appreciation Box:

Every now and then, when it is a busy time at work; send an employee appreciation box with some goodies and wellness products coupled with encouraging words.

Good Feedback Exchange:

Have each member of your team write a positive note about each other member on the team, then give each team member the positive notes about themselves!

Let them Choose!

Run out of ideas? Send a survey over and let them choose what activity they’d like to do with the team as a bonding experience.

I would love to see the ideas for employee appreciation you’ve been doing or planning to do past this month. Please email me at at newsletter@angelamaiers.com or tweet me @AngelaMaiers !

Sources:

https://snacknation.com/blog/employee-appreciation-day-ideas/

https://www.comparably.com/news/7-companies-with-strong-employee-appreciation-support-programs/

https://www.zoomshift.com/blog/employee-appreciation-day-ideas/

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236441/employee-recognition-low-cost-high-impact.aspx