In the modern working world that asks so much of the people working within it, is it still possible to make the team you’ve hired and curated feel appreciated while they get the job done? It can feel like a mountainous task that has little to no success, and when you’re trying to be the best boss you can be, that can really set you back!
It’s why more and more workplaces are coming up with new and innovative ways to reward their employees and give back to the people who have made them a success. And if you’ve had a pretty good year and you want to make sure your employees can share in the profit, you can do the same within your own company. But if you need a little inspiration, here are some ideas you should try out.
Don’t Be Afraid to Hand Out Praise
The more you give out praise, the more you endear yourself to your employees. Indeed, praise isn’t something to be heard once in a blue moon. It’s something you should be free and willing to give whenever someone does something good, innovative, or unexpected.
If your employees never get any praise from you, they’re going to think you’re incapable of giving it. This will make you come off as someone who doesn’t think other people do worthy work, and you’re going to seem a lot more stern and serious than you really are. This does nothing to encourage them, and they certainly won’t feel appreciated whenever they bring in results.
Refine Your Benefits Package
What do you offer your employees in terms of benefits? This is going to be different from workplace to workplace, but most employers tend to include health insurance, dividends (where this is possible), and guaranteed pay rises the longer someone works for them.
If you want your employees to feel appreciated, in the most practical and actionable way possible, you may need to refine the benefits package you currently offer into something with more potential.
We all love days when we can ‘dress down’, and ordering in pizzas for the whole team every other Friday is fun, but make sure there’s some real, monetary bonuses incorporated into the package as well.
Have an End of Year Award Ceremony
Why should Hollywood celebs be the only people who get to attend award ceremonies? Millions of people all over the world do good work, and yet it’s only a select few who get to showcase and celebrate that year after year.
Don’t let the same be true for your team. Take a page out of the Oscars handbook and start hosting your own awards, specific and exclusive to your team. Make it a party, lay out a good spread of food, and purchase some crystal awards that you can get printed and/or engraved with your employees’ names.
You can then hand these out to those who have gone the extra mile for you and your company. All in all, it’ll be a fun night for the whole team and can make people want to put in that extra little bit of effort to see their own name shining back at them.
Work with Your Employees
How often do you actually work with your employees? We don’t mean secluding yourself in your own office, or monitoring as you walk around the workplace floor. We mean really getting stuck in and lending a helping hand when you’re in a rush or you’ve got a very important project that needs finishing.
If you don’t do this very often, it might be time to change your ways. You want your employees to see you as someone capable, with a good level of authority, but still as an approachable person who knows what it takes to be in their position.
You can remind them of this by working with them on this level, as well as chatting to them and having a laugh. Their productivity will become all the better for it, simply because they know you’re there for them and you empathize with the effort they put in.
Appreciated employees are happy employees, which then makes them hard working employees! If you want your team to deliver results time and time again, make sure you show them just how much you appreciate their skills, time, and efforts. At the end of the day, this will make your workplace incredibly positive and one of the best in the whole area!
