Every workplace wants to its employees to be treated well and happy. When employees feel respected, valued, and appreciated, they will go on to do wonderful things. But sometimes employers' efforts at making a more engaged and happier workforce fall short of actually having the positive impact they're wanting for their employees. Attempts at recognition that go wrong, ineffective reward programs, or just a complete lack of understanding into what employees want and need from their workplace are all examples of how employers can hurt their own attempts to show appreciation for their workforce; instead of treating employees well, they actually end up tricking them.
Here are three ways to ensure you’re treating employees well:
Make Sure Employees Are Engaged
Employers might think their employees are involved and engaged in the workplace, but it's not unusual for the opposite to happen; one of the biggest employee complaints is that they feel like they’re being unheard or kept in the dark about company factors that impact them. Getting employees engaged is one of the crucial first steps toward ensuring you’re treating them well. By providing a culture that supports two-way communication and consistently involves employee feedback through suggestions, surveys, and polls, managers can identify ways to eliminate workplace issues or work conditions that hinder employee performance, leading to a happier workforce.
Show Recognition and Appreciation - Consistently
Appreciation goes a long way. Everyone wants to know their hard work and efforts aren’t going unnoticed, and one of the best ways to prove that you value your employees is by publicly showing your appreciation in tangible ways. But recognition needs to be a consistent and ongoing part of the employee culture. If employees are only recognized once and then not again for 8 months despite earning similar achievements or hitting key milestones, then the employers recognition loses its impact. Employees with similar success who aren't recognized at all can feel cheated or that they're working in an unfair work environment. Even without meaning to busy employers can slip up on identifying opportunities for recognition. Companies can avoid this pitfall by having established employee recognition programs in place that are built to both automatically and organically recognize and reward the contributions and successes of their employees.
Make Your Appreciation Authentic
Not only should you show appreciation for your employees, but it needs to feel authentic. If your recognition efforts don't feel sincere or appear trite, then they will lose their impact and potentially even cause more harm than good. Sometimes even well-meaning employers can mess up their attempts at recognition and undermine the very culture of appreciation they were trying to build. An established company employee recognition program eliminates this problem by:
This Halloween season, take the time to consider your employee appreciation processes and make sure your efforts are actually treating your employees and not tricking them.
