Most employees, or people in general, spend their entire lives trying to earn acceptance. They desire to earn it from their family, friends, acquaintances, significant others, people they respect, and even people they resent (Garcia, 2013). Since everything we do is motivated by something, it makes sense that something as simple as personal recognition can have such a significant impact on an employee. It is important to show employees they are appreciated beyond their paycheck.
In no particular order, these are a handful of ways to show employees they are appreciated:
- Acknowledge your employees by saying hello, good day, etc.
- Thank your employees for their contributions and hard work, use his/her first name.
- Take your employees out to lunch for his/her birthday, or for no reason at all.
- Develop an “Employee of the Month” program, and reserve a special parking spot close to the door for him/her, and/or feature that person on the office bulletin board or company website.
- Develop an annual “Employee Appreciation Day”. Have breakfast, lunch or treats brought in.
- Schedule a time to have a refreshment together (coffee, tea, or soda) one on one, or schedule a monthly gathering with all employees.
- For a job well done, allow your employees to take an extra thirty minutes to an hour during his/her lunch hour.
- Give feedback more often on what your employees are doing right.
- Develop a peer recognition program for employees to highlight their follow employees who go beyond normal job duties.
It is also important to know people are motivated by both internal and external factors, and there tends to be a mixture of reasons why a person does, achieve, behaves, learns, and reacts the way they do (Thompson, 2013). Remember employees desire to be appreciated. Take the time to show you care, even in a small way!
References
Garcia, K. (2013). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Unpublished manuscript. The University of Tampa.
Thompson, N. (2013). The Difference Between Intrinsic Motivation & Extrinsic Motivation. LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/174305-the-difference-between-intrinsic-motivation-extrinsic-motivation/