Did your manager or leader show appreciation to their team on this day? If they didn’t have an outward appreciative activity, perhaps they are consistently diligent about showing their employees they are respected and valued.
Different managers show their appreciation in different ways. Some employers prefer to show their thankfulness monetarily, like in a bonus check or promotion. Others may show their gratitude in more creative ways, like group outings or a personal weekly check-in.
If you have gotten the opportunity to work for different employers in your lifetime, you may notice your feelings toward your manager, or even the work itself, change given how you are treated by your leader and how valued you feel. This is because appreciation matters. When employees feel they are cherished and valued, workplace productivity improves.
Here are some simple ways to show your staff you appreciate them:
1. Start off on the right foot with a joyful welcome.
You’ve sent out your resume, interviewed, and gotten the job! Starting a new job is an exciting and challenging new experience. A happy welcome from your new team can get you started on the right foot.
One of the best experiences I had when I began a new job was when I arrived to my first day to find a bouquet of flowers, a coffee mug, and a handwritten note welcoming me on my desk. This feeling of appreciation carried over to the next months of my work. This can be a great gesture for a boss to show his/her gratitude for their new employee.
2. Celebrate birthdays or other significant life events!
If an employee has a birthday, gets married, or has a baby, the workplace is not too formal of a setting to recognize these momentous life events.
Employers may choose to cater a lunch, get the staff member a small gift, or have all employees sign a card for the designated staff member. These remarkable gestures can make employees feel cared for and special during an important day or part of their lives.
3. Introduce colorful sweets and playful games during scheduled work meetings.
This may seem silly, and that’s because it is! One 2016 study found that adding colorful childish sweets and playful games to the table at work meetings significantly enhanced the creative climate and playfulness in the workplace without risking meeting productivity.
This is a very simple way to get your teams’ creative juices flowing and show them you appreciate their creative, playful side even at work.
4. Recognize good work publicly.
Incorporate a designated weekly or monthly employee chosen for their hard work. This can be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, an email can be sent to all workers thanking a specific employee for their hard work and listing their recent work accomplishments. This can be incentive for other workers to continue working hard and be acknowledged for their work.
5. Encourage staff members to decorate their space.
Studies have shown that the physical spaces we inhabit have a profound impact on psychological functioning. In one particular 2016 study, researchers found that work teams performed better in spaces that were decorated.
Employees can be encouraged by their leader to decorate their space in a way that feels identity affirming and makes them happy. As employers recognize their employees’ different personalities and identities, employees will feel particularly validated and respected in the workplace.
6. Talk to them, and ask for feedback.
This idea is extremely simple to implement, and also essential to workplace happiness and productivity. Many employees appreciate getting to know their supervisor, and they feel valued when their supervisor gets to know them. Feedback is also a great way to show staff they are appreciated. The feedback can be in terms of how to improve the workplace, what is going well in the workplace, or even what can be improved upon in terms of the staff dynamics.
Because we spend so much of our time in a workplace setting, it is important for employees to feel respected and valued by their supervisors. Staff appreciation can be implemented in a variety of ways, such as recognition, feedback, gifts, or team building activities. Choose one of ideas from above, or create your own unique way to show your staff they are appreciated.
