How to Show Employee Appreciation Effectively

Your employees keep your business running successfully every day. Keeping them engaged and happy at work – and working at your business for years to come – is vital.  

But even for employers who know the importance of rewarding and retaining employees, a major question remains: how to show employee appreciation in an effective way?

Creating an employee appreciation strategy can help your business retain employees by recognizing and rewarding their hard work. Here are the essential elements to build one. 

1. Show Recognition Regularly

One of the most critical ways to show employee appreciation is by recognizing them for their performance at work. This isn’t merely a feel-good measure – recognition has a strong impact on retention rates. In fact, employees are twice as likely to quit when they don’t feel recognized. 

Of course, employee appreciation and recognition are not the same thing, though they’re related. A workplace must have both to be successful. If you don’t have a formal recognition program in place, you can start by encouraging managers to integrate meaningful recognition into 1:1s with their direct reports, as well as peer-to-peer recognition efforts.  

2. Prioritize Well-being 

Another important element of showing employee appreciation is prioritizing employee well-being in the workplace. Employees feel appreciated when they’re seen as whole people, not simply cogs in a large workplace machine. 

Adding in benefits that boost their well-being could include discounts on gym memberships, access to mental health services, ergonomic office setup options, or healthy meals in the company cafeteria. And of course, don’t forget these benefit ideas to increase retention. 

If you’re wondering how to show employee appreciation through well-being benefits, just ask your employees what they would prioritize. Each person has different preferences, but you can satisfy more employees if you ask them directly which well-being benefits they value, and which ones they don’t find important. 

3. Provide Training and Growth Opportunities 

Recognizing employees for their hard work with rewards is great, but over the long haul, it’s not enough by itself to retain people. You also need to show employees that you value and appreciate the work they do by giving them interesting and exciting opportunities to develop – and possibly a promotion. 

Research by Linkedin backs this strategy up. After three years, an employee who was promoted has a 70% likelihood of still being at the company, while one who moved laterally has a 62% chance. An employee who stays in the same position has only a 45% likelihood of staying at that company after three years. 

That’s why one of the most effective ways to show employee appreciation and boost retention is to provide ample training and growth opportunities for employees. If they can see the potential for career growth and development at your organization, and they feel appreciated as well, they will likely stick around for years to come. 

4. Create a Healthy Workplace Culture 

A workplace that is filled with respect for employees and makes a real effort to increase diversity is a healthy one. Employees will remain at your workplace longer – and stay more engaged – if they feel comfortable being themselves and included in the workplace. 

Remember that when showing employee appreciation, everyone in your workplace should be included equally and their priorities considered. Your hiring practices should also be optimized to bring in a diverse pool of applicants and ensure your hiring processes are free of bias. 

How to show employee appreciation and reduce employee turnover is a critical task for human resources professionals. Find out how Cangrade’s Pre-Hire Assessments can help your organization hire the right people and reduce turnover at every stage of the employee lifecycle.