With Employee Appreciation Day taking place this March, there’s no better time to look at the individual talents in your company. The HR industry understands more than most that cultivating a positive culture of celebration is an effective way to ensure employees feel appreciated and invested in.
Whether you’re congratulating employees for embracing emerging tech, highlighting someone’s individual triumphs, or congratulating a team on their creative innovation in an era of AI, there are multiple reasons to celebrate achievements. This article looks at reasons why you should show your appreciation for the diverse merits and talents of your employees.
Why it matters to appreciate employees
From a simple ‘thank you’, a smile for a job well done, or even an incentifying bonus, there’s no disputing that feeling valued, with small or large gestures of appreciation, count. According to recent reports, 84% of people asked felt being appreciated and thanked at work makes them feel valued, more motivated and engaged. In fact, even 61% went on to add that they even perform better as a result.
This year’s Employee Appreciation Day on the 7th of March acts as a reminder for companies setting aside even the smallest moment or measure to express gratitude towards their employees. It’s also a chance to take a step back and acknowledge the dedication, effort, and value that employees bring to their workplaces, enhancing morale and strengthening employer-employee relationships.
Refining roles to complement abilities
There’s no doubt, as these latest statistics show, feeling appreciated for doing a job well is hugely important. It is an area that the UK can improve on and recognising employees’ needs to be more than a one-off event. When you value staff they’re almost three times more likely to be a highly engaged and motivated team member.
Similarly, once you understand a person’s individual strengths you can refine a role to align with these talents. For example, a marketing assistant with film-editing knowledge and social media skills might be encouraged to learn more about video content creation on popular platforms like YouTube. In turn, by tailoring responsibilities to complement natural abilities, employees feel more engaged and productive which is great for the entire business.
Having a people-first approach can also help to drive personal and organisational success in tandem. Employees who use their strengths and talents at work are more likely to be engaged. This person-centred approach creates a win-win situation with employees enjoying work that plays to their strengths while organisations benefit from increased performance, efficiency, and their growing confidence in current and future roles.
Recognising existing talent
Recognising the existing talent within an organisation and showing someone first-hand that you are aware of their talent is the first step in appreciating employees. To ensure this appreciation, consider Compensation and Benefits Policies and Employee Recognition Programs. As employees are the backbone of every business, ensuring that employees are happy, with a strong sense of job satisfaction are key, especially when you consider how much time people spend at work.
You can show your appreciation for employees in both formal and informal ways that celebrate achievements both large and small. Digital platforms that allow colleagues to give each other ‘kudos’ can boost appreciation, engagement and create an organisation-wide culture of celebration across departments and amongst staff on every level. One-to-one meetings can also be a good time to highlight exceptional work for a positive peer-to-peer system of appreciation.
Studies have shown that creating a culture of internal and social accountability can equally lead to greater engagement, transparency and higher levels of trust in a company. Instead of expecting praise to be given from the top down, encourage employees to look at their own work, assess how they think they are performing and areas where they are doing well or can improve on. This empowers employees to take ownership of their growth, by setting clear expectations and providing the autonomy to meet them in their own way.
Creating growth pathways
Perhaps the ultimate form of appreciation is investing in employees’ futures. Once you have an understanding of an employee’s unique talents, you can focus on developing their skills to benefit them professionally. Sometimes, organisations might fail to fully recognise the talents already within their teams so it’s sensible to conduct skills assessments and have conversations with staff about their strengths, any interests beyond their job descriptions and how you might be able to upskill and train them.
Again, if you can establish clear career pathways and prioritise internal promotion, you are visibly illustrating your appreciation for members of staff who are performing well in existing positions. Promoting from within is also a cost-effective decision once you have recognised someone has remarkable talents and is ready to progress.
Ideally, that person will already know the business and can bring that experience to a new role. This approach not only rewards loyalty but creates a culture where employees feel their long-term growth is valued. It’s also essential to show staff that you appreciate employees who want to see that they have realistic opportunities to progress, develop skills and move up the organisational hierarchy.
Therefore, employee appreciation extends beyond recognising current abilities to investing in future potential. A sustainable company culture where talent is recognised, developed, and celebrated is a profitable and productive approach to take not just on Employee Appreciation Day, but throughout the year.
The post Employee Appreciation Day: Celebrating Your Team’s Talents first appeared on HR News.
