Encouraging a Culture of Appreciation in Your Work Place

Written by Karen E. Mosier – Reprinted with permission – Originally printed in CARA Connection Newsletter Vol 4 Issue 1 Nov 2016

Appreciation is a fundamental human need.  Employees flourish when their work is valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises and they are motivated to improve their good work.

Appreciation can be shown to colleagues in many ways as outlined in the following examples:

• Give a sincere word of praise
• Thank an individual by name for their assistance
• Send a personalized email of encouragement or thanks
• Send out a company-wide mass email to publicly thank the employees for their efforts
• Thank employees for their efforts in a company newsletter
• Write a hand written thank you note
• Give a small token of appreciation to colleagues
• Give acknowledgement to the individuals for a job well done in a public forum
• Have yearly employee satisfaction surveys
• Give employees feedback on their performance and thank them for doing a good job
• Involve employees in decisions that affect them
• Give employees the latitude to perform the work the way that they see fit
• Have an employee of the month or other awards to reward top employees
• Recommend your employees for a merit increase in pay
• Give employees bonuses or gift cards
• Have special events throughout the year to thank employees
• Foster an environment of open communication
• Provide money for professional development activities for employees
• Encourage colleagues to have fun at work and smile and laugh
• Celebrate employees’ successes and accomplishments in public ways
• Give employees flexibility in determining their own work hours and their work location
• Give your employees new opportunities to grow by increasing their responsibilities
• Reward highly motivated individuals with time off

The workplace environment is of utmost importance to business being done. Are you actively involved in encouraging a culture of appreciation in your workplace? A little appreciation can go a long way to promoting greater employee satisfaction and enjoyment of work and more time spent focusing on the job and less time complaining.

References:

Employee Satisfaction: The Success Factor

Praise and Appreciation: The Keys to Job Satisfaction.
Why Employee Recognition Is So Important.
Teamwork & Encouragement on the Job.
7 Ways to Improve Employee Satisfaction.
10 Great Ways to Recognize Employees.
10 Best Ways to Recognize and Retain Your Employees