Do your people feel valued and appreciated at work?
If you’re a leader, one of the most important things you need to be doing is thinking about how can you demonstrate appreciation – that’s right – appreciation for your people and what they are doing for you. We cannot assume that just because we pay people – and often pay them really well – that that alone constitutes appreciation.
Nor can we assume that just because we don’t need appreciation, which may or may not be the case, but even if we don’t, that others don’t as well. Because even if we’ve worked really hard and we’ve kind of done it our own way and did it even without recognition and reward along the way, many, many people need appreciation, recognition and understanding that they are valued.
We know that workplace engagement is down. We know that general workplace morale is down. We know that attitudes towards work is down. These are all facts. There’s research and data to support it. So, what can we as leaders do to help our people feel valued?