This Is How to Make Employees Feel Valued
Did know that 85% of working Americans claim to hate working for their current employer?
While there are multitude of reasons why someone wouldn’t enjoy their job, a large portion of them could be prevented by the employers themselves.
Simply knowing how to make employees feel valued, and then making sure that they do, goes a long way in creating an ideal working environment. The best part? Letting your team members know you care about them isn’t as complicated as it may seem on paper.
In this article, we’ll break down tips and tricks you can use to show your employees that you value their contributions to the team. We’ll tell you how you can acknowledge their hard work, as well as what you can say to make them feel appreciated.
It Starts With Proper Pay and Benefits
When it comes to making employees feel valued, the first place you need to look is at your payroll. If you’re not paying your employees what they deserve to be paid, compliments and other kind gestures aren’t going to mean anything.
On top of a strong salary, you need to make sure you offer other valuable benefits to your staff that they will appreciate. Things like paid vacation and insurance are must-haves if you want to take care of your team members and show them that you value their hard work.
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Feedback
It may not sound like a lot on paper, but positive feedback does go a long way. Letting your staff know that you appreciate their efforts daily is a great way to create a more positive working environment that everyone will thrive in.
Something as simple as saying “thank you” at the end of the day is more than enough to show your team members that you notice and appreciate their efforts.
Recognize Accomplishments in Front of the Team
To piggyback off of that last point, it’s never a bad idea to recognize your employees in front of their peers. Praising accomplishments aloud for everyone to hear makes them that much more special to the recipient, which is what you want.
A pro tip? Have team meetings every single morning. Use this time to not only coach up your staff on what you need them to do that day, but also as a platform where you can acknowledge people’s hard work and successes.
Maintain an Open Line of Communication
For a lot of people in the workforce, the idea of approaching upper management about anything is quite stressful. For a multitude of reasons, people often don’t enjoy the idea of having to address anything with the people they work for.
The best way to prevent this from happening, so you can make your employees feel valuable and comfortable, is to maintain an open line of communication. Keep your door open and your phone nearby so it’s that much easier to talk to you about things.
Establish Personal Connections With Your Employees
Employees can tell when their boss is being genuine and when they’re doing the bare minimum. With that in mind, it’s important to note that you have to work hard to make your employees feel like a crucial part of the team.
Establishing those real, personal connections takes time. You’ll have to put forth an effort to let everyone on your team know that you genuinely care about them and their wellbeing.
Try to remember the names of their immediate family members. Have company events where everyone wears engraved name tags so you can put faces to names. Keep a calendar of all birthdays so you can ask about family members and send them well wishes on their special day.
Promote From Within When You Can
To keep your employees driven, you need to make sure they believe that they can advance within your company. If they think that their current position is as high as they can get in your organization, they’re going to feel undervalued and unimportant, which will prevent them from working hard.
The best way to avoid this problem? Promote from within.
Sure, sometimes you’ll have to go outside of your company to make a hire. But when possible, promoting someone who is already on your staff is a great way to keep morale high and motivate your team members to work hard.
On top of that, you won’t have to worry about searching for, hiring, and training a new employee. That, combined with keeping your staff happy and motivated, makes deciding to promote from within a no-brainer.
Feed Your Team Breakfast Each Week
The quickest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach. And when you’re having those daily meetings each morning, you should consider bringing food for your staff at least once a week.
Feeding your team is an affordable and easy way to show them that you’re thinking about them. It also gets the team’s day started in a positive way, which can make them more efficient and productive during that shift.
Having healthy snacks and drinks stocked up is also a good idea, as it encourages your team to make good choices with their diet. Also, it once again shows them that you’re thinking about them and want them to be happy when they step foot in your facility.
When Employees Feel Valued
Remember, you need to make your relationships with your employees important to you and your upper management staff. It takes a real, genuine effort to create a positive working environment that your team members will enjoy and thrive working in.
