.svg)
Are you taking the time to shout out and recognize your teammates for a job well done? Employee engagement is a huge boost to your company culture, especially when it comes from managers. And it may even raise your staff's performance as well. It’s a small often overlooked gesture, but taking the time to express appreciation can boost morale, deepen relationships, and leave a lasting impact.
There are many ways and few rules when it comes to recognizing your employees. If they’ve recently completed a project, you can shoot them a quick email recognizing their contributions. Managers might make a practice of sending company-wide, internal emails that highlight an employee’s dedication or recent promotion, too. Or let’s say someone has gone above and beyond consistently, and you want do something a bit more meaningful. Consider writing a note or getting them a card from the rest of the staff. Executive Douglas Conant, for instance, recognized the power of hand-written notes throughout his career, believing that personal engagement was an effective means to unlock employee productivity. Want to up the ante? Monetary bonuses are a sure way to make an impact. And who doesn’t like free money?
The main takeaway here is there are many ways to express appreciation for your employees. While some actions are more meaningful than others, integrating this practice into your managerial style in any way is sure to benefit your company culture.
Employee recognition significantly raises staff morale, contributing to stronger business results. On the flipside it’s estimated that burnout and disengaged employees cost US companies a whopping 500 billion a year. Obviously employee engagement won’t solve all the problems that contribute to burnout, but it can certainly help take the edge off. In fact, nearly 30% of employees say that the most powerful form of recognition on the job comes from their direct managers. It might not feel like much, but if you’re a leader of a team, you should strive to highlight your employees’ efforts however you can. It will have a positive impact on your organization long term.
Turnover costs can quickly add up, so organizations should minimize having to replace workers as much as possible. This is another area where employee appreciation can have a material impact on your business. According to the Corporate Leadership Council, highly engaged employees are nearly 90% more likely to stay with their current organization. When employees stick around, they foster a sense camaraderie, improving your bottom line over time.
The practice of showing appreciation is beneficial to mangers too, improving both employees’ view of leadership and their capabilities. Effective managers know when to recognize their employees, and by normalizing this type of engagement you lay the foundation for a positive workplace culture.
In short, appreciation fosters trust. Routinely recognizing employees for a job well done opens the door to stronger and more honest communication across your organization. You shouldn’t limit expressing gratitude to the workplace either. By making this a practice you let people in your life know they are valued, giving you a more positive outlook in general.
Managers should strive to make this type of employee engagement a consistent practice. Not only will this boost retention and productivity, it also makes your company a more exciting place to work. It has tremendous value for employees on the receiving end, but it can also strengthen leadership's relationships within their departments and organizations at large.
.svg){kind=small}
