I always say that leaders set the tone and drive culture. We know that the behavior of business owners, managers and supervisors can be the most influential of what gets done or doesn’t get done in the workplace culture. During many of my workshops, I teach managers how to communicate appreciation effectively to their employees and teams.
While that is a good starting point, we have quickly learned that to focus solely on managers and supervisors to provide appreciation in the workplace will not support the winning culture you are trying to create. Most typical employee recognition programs place the sole responsibility for recognizing and appreciating good work squarely on the shoulders of managers and supervisors.
Certainly, recognizing and appreciating employees is part of every manager’s job. When employees feel appreciated and valued by their managers it’s a good thing. However, this can sometimes be unrealistic and even create a few challenges.
- Managers may feel overwhelmed with all the other tasks they have to do in a day.
- Employees can become frustrated if they don’t receive enough appreciation from their managers or in a timely manner.
- Managers find it hard to appreciate all their employees consistently.
Although most employees like to receive positive appreciation from their managers, hearing encouragement and support from their coworkers has become increasingly important today. Particularly with the younger workforce. Receiving a compliment or having an employee share how another employee went above and beyond and was so valuable to the customer experience, project, task or team is extremely rewarding to more and more employees.
The problem in the workplace today is that most employees don’t know how to appreciate their fellow coworkers or worse yet don’t allow them to do it. Managers need to provide resources or training for employees to learn how to effectively encourage, reward, recognize and appreciate their coworkers. It is important to talk about in staff meetings, one on ones, stand up meetings, company newsletters and more.
Here are a few tips everyone can do in their workplace. Challenge your team to make it a priority to show appreciation to each other.
DAY ONE: Send a kind message to a coworker on a sticky note, email or text
DAY TWO: Give a public shoutout to someone who has done great work
DAY THREE: Offer to help a teammate who may need it.
DAY FOUR: Surprise a coworker with a small act of kindness.
DAY FIVE: Tell a manager how much you appreciate what your coworker did and why.
I am not saying that managers should give up their efforts to show recognition and communicate appreciation to their employees. In fact, they should always strive to do more of it. But when employees and their managers together, consistently communicate appreciation to their colleagues, positive results will occur more quickly and longer lasting. Not to mention, improve morale, have a better, more positive and supportive work environment that other businesses will envy. Now that is MAGICAL!
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John Formica is America’s and Australia’s Customer Experience Coach, team culture experience expert, keynote speaker, and Top 10 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Customer Loyalty. For information on customer experience programs, leadership training, team culture, business growth, how to find and hire great people and tailored training programs just for you or to book John to speak at your next event, contact 704-965-4090 or visit our website at JohnFormica.com.