Sharing the love at work – why it’s important
Being part of a culture that consistently celebrates employees makes all the difference. It feels great to get a “thank you” or “well done” from a colleague, and it’s equally as uplifting and rewarding to show appreciation too. Making recognition a key part of your business’ culture and your employees’ daily routine is therefore crucial. It’ll transform the way your employees feel about themselves, their colleagues and their work.
‘Sharing the love’, whether it’s small tokens of appreciation or grand gestures of gratitude that are amplified across your company, is important for your employees and your business. Here’s why:
Recognition spreads positivity
When drowning in a sea of tasks and thinking about impending deadlines, it can be very easy for employees to fall into a negative mindset and head towards a path of disengagement. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Having a strong culture of recognition spreads positivity around your business which helps employees feel more upbeat and engaged.
It’s quite simple really. Recognition is positive, so the more it happens, the more positive your working environment and the people in it will be. Employees that consistently show their gratitude towards colleagues, receive praise from others and also see these positive moments of recognition happening in all areas of the business, will naturally feel more positive about the environment they’re working in and work in general.
It’s uplifting to see other people get recognised for doing a good job, and it’s even more special to get personally recognised too. All of this has a positive influence on your employees’ daily lives at work, so capturing all of this positivity in one space is really powerful. With a recognition platform, employees can log in, say “thanks” to a colleague and see all of the great things going on in the business.
Recognition boosts confidence
Many employees tend to think that their efforts and small achievements go unnoticed, so being recognised on a regular basis is a nice reminder for employees that they’re important, valued and doing a great job. This boosts employees’ confidence because it confirms that their day-to-day actions, no matter how big or small, are positively contributing to the business.
Receiving a message of thanks or getting a “well done” from a colleague will make an employee feel good about themselves – it’s a confidence boost on its own. But on a deeper level, the fact that someone in the business has gone out of their way to show their appreciation really drives home the message that they’re a valued member of the team, which is a real positive for employees’ wellbeing and sense of belonging too.
We all like to be appreciated, but at work, appreciation is needed from time to time to reassure us all that we’re making a difference and, in general, doing a good job. If your employees feel confident in their jobs, they’re more likely to have greater job satisfaction and continue to perform well too. So, encouraging your employees to ‘share the love’ is always a good idea.
Recognition builds good relationships
Employees that regularly recognise each other are also more likely to have positive relationships with each other, which promotes productivity, motivation and engagement. Coming into work and operating alongside people that you genuinely like and value makes a huge difference. Not only does it just make work a nicer place to be, it makes it easier to get things done because everyone is working together in harmony towards the business’ overall goals.
As corny as it sounds, team work really does make the dream work, and recognition has a part to play in strengthening your team of people. Peer-to-peer recognition when facilitated through a platform, for example, can help to break down communication barriers, strengthen inter-departmental bonds and encourages employees to build connections throughout the business by saying “thank you” or “well done” whenever they see fit.
Recognition drives motivation
A recognition-rich environment also fuels motivation because not only are employees spurred on by the recognition they receive, they’re driven by the knowledge that they can receive praise at any time. Put simply, when employees know their efforts are important, appreciated and that they, as individuals, always have the opportunity to receive recognition, they’ll be more inclined to work harder and go above and beyond.
They’ll also be motivated by previous occasions of recognition too. Any time we’re thanked or made to feel valued at work it’s memorable isn’t it? It’s a special moment that reminds us why we do what we do. Capturing the magic of this in a recognition scheme is a great way of driving motivation further because employees can work towards specific goals or values and look back at all the times they’ve been recognised for something.
The key message here is that showing appreciation at work is important. A quick “thank you” might seem trivial to some, but it’s a meaningful way of spreading positivity, boosting confidence, driving motivation and building relationships across any business. A working environment where everyone appreciates each other is special and very valuable. It’s in this kind of environment that you’ll see strong teams thrive, creativity flourish and employee engagement grow.
What will you do today to ‘share the love’ at work?
This article is provided by peoplevalue.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, peoplevalue – The Employee Engagement Company
We are a leading provider of employee reward&recognition, benefits delivery&wellbeing solutions.
