Organizational leaders are well aware of the fact that happy employees are more likely to be good employees. To keep them engaged, satisfied, and inspired every day is an essential part of leadership.
Employers want to create a culture that values and supports all employees. Many employers achieve this by showing that they care. Now there are plenty of ways to keep employees feeling valued.
Here is an outline of how you can achieve that:
Importance of feeling valued in the workplace
It’s essential to let employees know that they are valued and appreciated. A cheerful staff can bring about a more positive work environment, help boost the individual’s performance, and help create a team with high morale. When you show employees that you value them, this can:
Reduces turnover: When you prioritize and respect each team member in your company and show it in your daily actions and decisions, they tend to have higher job satisfaction, pursue higher positions rather than leave the job thus, lowering the turnover rate.
Build trust: When your employees know you value their input and ideas often feel more connected to the company. They’re much likely to trust in the leadership and confidence in your business.
Raise productivity: When you tell your employees that you appreciate and value their work, they tend to continue putting in the same level of effort. After all, they don’t work for praise alone, but knowing you appreciate the work they do means a lot.
How to make employees feel valued
Communicate Well
When employees experience open and two-way communication, they develop a better connection to the organization, and job satisfaction is higher. It is common for employees to feel lost and have no idea what to do after the meeting. According to statistics, over one-third of team members are unclear on what they should be doing, and half of the managers feel uncomfortable communicating with their staff.
If you aren’t actively and regularly praising and showing your employees that you appreciate them, they will assume the worst: first, that everything they do is unsatisfactory; and second, that you don’t like them.
Here’s what good communication may be:
- It is intentional and not forced
- It involves listening to them and respecting their opinion and ideas
- It is concise and done often
Provide Work That Challenges Them
Always give someone a chance to show their capabilities. Even if the initial responsibility seems minor, it often leads to something greater over time. Give responsibility often enough that your high performers know you have confidence in them, but not so much that they get bored.
The right level of challenge shows that you believe in their capabilities. Giving them increased levels of challenges will also let them develop and grow new skills over time.
Reward Results
It’s not often that workers are recognized for their hard work. Acknowledge employees’ efforts to make the business better. Rewarding employees with cash, gifts, and healthcare are all very nice, but who doesn’t like complimentary lunches, outdoor adventures, or an on-site masseuse?
You can be creative and show your appreciation by giving a vacation to a place they’ve surely never been before ⏤ like a luxury Mongolia tour. It will be perfect for a complete change of scenery, featuring rugged mountains and the famous Gobi desert filled with rare animals like the Bactrian camels.
Care About Their Well-Being
Aim to do what’s best for their well-being. Take the time to get to know them, so that you can address any issues before they can become major problems. Different people have different ways of feeling secure and happy at work. By providing your team with a comfortable work environment, you not only make them more efficient but happier as well.
Create an employee wellness program for your team designed to help employees eat healthily, lose weight, and improve their physical health. They include activities like exercise, stress management, wellness assessments, and weight-loss competitions.
Give Them Feedback
Employees need to get feedback on how they are doing. To avoid confusion, give your employees two types of feedback. Make sure you give positive feedback as well as negative ones. Don’t just tell them to improve, tell them what they did right as well.
Try to avoid what employers usually do — the sandwich technique in which you stuff negative feedback between layers of positive feedback. It will get the employees confused about what you’re trying to convey.
Leaders cannot demand that their employees feel valued, but they can create a culture in which employees are recognized for their hard work, and to have a fulfilled work experience. Showing your employees that you value their work will immediately help create stronger relationships. From simple thank you’s to bonuses and rewards, there are several ways to show your employees that they are doing a great job.