8 Ways to Help Your Employees Feel Loved and Appreciated

8 Ways to Help Your Employees Feel Loved and Appreciated

On average, people work over 80,000 hours in their lifetime,  which is a staggering amount! Happy workers with a passion for what they do will wake up each morning with a bounce in their step. It will reflect in their profession, how they conduct themselves and around colleagues. Meanwhile, an unhappy colleagues will carry around negative energy, frustration and not take as much pride in their work. When a person has a good vibe about their place of work, it is often based not just on money or the prestige of the company that helps to pay the mortgage. Typically feeling good about going to work depends on whether an employee feels loved and valued. Here we explain some of the best ways you can do that, which may seem simple but are often overlooked.

1.  Try to Act the Same Each Day in the Workplace

Just like in love and romance, we need that same sense of steady familiarity. Granted that business has its ups and downs – profits and financial losses. But employees need to feel consistency in their work-life. Whatever the pressures of the business, it’s important not to filter that stress down to the employees (although it’s a human reaction to relay your stress and worries to others). If a colleague feels too much pressure and that happiness is not felt in the workplace, you’ll not be surprised to quickly see the employees jump ship.

2.  Bonuses are Great But Kindness is Free

Treat others the way you wish to be treated. A golden rule that is also considered by some faiths to be important, it costs nothing to act with kindness towards your employees. Barking orders at them, being rude, threatening or disrespectful will get you nowhere in business. Instead, greet them with a friendly smile and kind words each day – not because you have to but just because it’s good manners.

3.  Take it One Step Further by Getting to Know Your Employees

What we mean by this is understanding more about your employees on a personal level. By relating to them, recognising their needs, thoughts and fears, you’ll then be able to know what makes that employee tick and get the best out of them. Even if you have a big team, it shows great initiative on your part to develop a bond personally; learning about their families, career plans and aspirations day to day. Give it a try!

4.  Offer Flexibility

The Covid-19 pandemic truly showed what it meant to be flexible. Furloughs, remote working becoming the normality, children being homeschooled and many on sick leave meant employers had to be more flexible than ever. And those businesses that didn’t try to bend the rules in their favour or turn a blind eye to their employees are now reaping the benefits post-pandemic with a loyal workforce that they perhaps didn’t believe existed. That’s because showing flexibility, adaptability and most importantly empathy to any employee’s unforeseen circumstances can do a world of good for morale.

5.  Communication is Key

This is such an important point to help a business’s employees feel valued. Explaining what is going on within your company, through team briefing, emails, and regular contact face-to-face helps to display you trust your staff and want to empower them. With honest feedback and transparency, that positive attitude helps the business achieve its goals. Good communication makes the team stronger and the business in turn. Give your employees the platform to share their thoughts and any doubts through consistently good communication so you can progress together.

6.  Appreciate Their Efforts

It’s easy to overlook the efforts or accomplishments of an employee because of a busy schedule, deadline or demands of day-to-day business. But recognising their achievements, however big or small, will boost their confidence and let them know you see the hard work they’re putting in daily. This can be done in so many different ways. Whether that’s privately by popping over a quick email of thanks or better yet publicly shouting from the rooftops. The bigger the gesture and pat on the back, the more they will feel the love!

7.  Plan Social Gatherings

When the going gets tough in the workplace, we all feel it adding that extra hour of effort to complete a task under intense pressure. We spend so much time at work that sometimes the fun can be sapped out of the process, individually and collectively as a team. Therefore, it’s important to let your hair down and have some enjoyment away from the workplace. There are lots of ways you can do this from planning office parties to spending the day together in outdoor scenery with team-building exercises at a local park.

8.  Give Employees the Stepping Stone to Succeed

Whether that’s a promotion, raise in salary or acceptance that your best employee may leave, employees need to feel recognised. Employees exert a lot of their energy into helping a business succeed when it’s essentially just a tool to help them lead an enjoyable and comfortable life. When you recognise their efforts naturally with a promotion or raise, they will feel grateful in return that you appreciate what they do. And it’s important to not burn any bridges should they leave. A kind word thanking them and any support before taking that next role demonstrates you care for your other employees, setting a good example. You never know – employees leaving may wish to return in the future if their final day didn’t end on a sour note. What goes around comes around.

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