When we were young, our parents taught us to say “Thank you” with sincerity and genuine appreciation whenever someone helps us even just a little bit. However, as we grow older and enter the business world, a “Thank you” becomes more of a checkbox, an automatic reply that holds little value — more of a way to get things done quicker. It doesn’t mean that saying “Thank you” is no longer as important. It’s just that saying “Thank you” without meaning and appreciation has become the norm. And that is the reality of corporate culture. With pandemic-related consequences, it feels like an even more heavy duty for employers to show appreciation to remote employees.
The truth is, while it is textbook knowledge for managers to know how important showing appreciation to your employees is, not many can understand the depth nor can do it properly. One of the main reasons for this is the gap between managers and employees and each side’s perceptions of appreciation.
Firstly, managers incorrectly assume employees know how they feel about them as they overestimate the visibility of their emotions. Secondly, managers find it difficult to communicate appreciation as some have trouble balancing it with developmental feedback and fear it may send employees mixed signals. Employees, on the other hand, did not see this as a complex task and quickly and clearly articulated the precise ways managers could effectively express appreciation. What executives need to realize is that employee appreciation can benefit both the employee and the company itself.
Employee appreciation helps increase morale, improve engagement, produce better performance, and create a stronger company culture. Employees feel personally appreciated when they are recognized for their hard work, which boosts their confidence and excitement for their jobs. They are more likely to stay at your organization for longer when morale is high. Moreover, employee recognition and incentive systems encourage team members to produce their best work, which leads to higher workplace engagement and a stronger sense of belonging. Not only that, employees perform better and boost productivity when they believe they will be rewarded for their efforts, which can lead to improved results and business success.
However, with COVID still going on, it seems more difficult than ever to show appreciation to your employees without the personal contact. Employers need to be more proactive and actually make plans to show remote employee appreciation. Here are a few ideas and suggestions that could help you inspire and motivate your remote workforce:
1. Enable peer recognition
Peer recognition is powerful because it can strengthen relationships while keeping employees engaged. The benefit isn’t limited to those who are on the receiving end either. Acts of kindness, like acknowledging a coworker, have been shown to boost production of neurochemicals in our brain — including dopamine and serotonin. When this happens, fears and stress are reduced while trust and empathy increase.
To introduce peer recognition to your remote team, encourage them to give each other positive feedback. This could be as simple as an email thanking a co-worker or a shout-out in a virtual meeting.
2. Give employees more time to work and rest
Everyone is struggling to get their work done right now. Parents are juggling to raise a family while joining meetings and balancing their workload. Single people are struggling with self-isolating away from their family and friends. Couples are struggling with working from home in potentially tight spaces. It’s an adjustment that has been hard on everyone. As you are dealing with COVID-19 and the stress that comes with it, consider its impact on productivity as well. Things that used to take less time have become harder to do. Employees are struggling with their lives. Since many of us work from home, our work has unfortunately taken a hit.
As a result, also consider allowing your remote employees to take the occasional Friday off. This is a great way to reward them for their hard work and give them extra time to spend with family, blow off steam, and destress before the coming workweek. A long weekend is especially meaningful for remote employees who are balancing childcare, housework, or even feeling overwhelmed by the constant stressful news cycle. In fact, the human brain is not built to consume global tragedy at the rate we do now, and offering time off for employees feeling overwhelmed is a meaningful idea to show appreciation to remote employees.
3. Offer fun shared experiences and activities
A good way to maintain connections among employees is to host virtual activities such as happy hours, lunch, or game nights to destress and chat about anything besides work. These experiences should only focus on building personal relationships among coworkers and managers.
Give your employees discounts or gift cards on food for lunch or dinner virtual parties so everyone could bring their own beverage and meal together to just sit down and chat via Zoom. Food brings people together, and there are many ways you can use that to your advantage while people are socially distancing themselves. Not only does this employee appreciation idea help alleviate some stress for your employees, but it helps restaurants as well, which are in desperate need of support during COVID-19.
>> Read more: How to keep your employees motivated during COVID-19
4. Do weekly check-ins with employees
While one-on-one meetings can be centered around working on your employee’s long-term growth and developments, they are also the perfect time to recognize your employees. Set aside time every week to connect with your employees with one-on-one meetings to check in on them and make sure they know that their mentally health is always a priority. Show that you appreciate and care for them because they need that more than you could ever think of. Acknowledge your remote employees’ personal achievements and recognize their milestones.
>> Read more: What Is Informal Communication In Business Organizations?
5. Different forms of “Thank you” note
One simple employee appreciation idea is to send personalized recognition to an employee who has been responsive, helpful, and on top of their work now that your company has transitioned to remote work. An easy way to send this type of personalized recognition is to use a rewards and recognition platform where you can write a customized message of appreciation to your employee thanking them for their hard work, which will then be published on a social feed for others to see. You can even show your appreciation in a private message if you would like — what truly matters is that you are specific and detailed about what the employee is doing right. This reinforces that their behavior is positive and encourages them to continue it in the future.
You can also just take 5 minutes of your day to write your great employees a LinkedIn recommendation. Anyone viewing their profile can read these recommendations, and they are especially meaningful coming from management. This effort not only boosts morale and shows how much you care, but also provides a publicly professional endorsement of your employee’s skills and dedication to their job.
Having said that, being given a handwritten “Thank you” note still holds its values just as the other two forms. The world is now more reliant on technology than ever so having a handwritten note really shows how much you, as a manager, appreciate the dedication or hard work your employees have been producing. Mail it to their home alongside some gift cards or a care package would even add more sentimental values.
6. Public recognition with shout outs during meetings and virtual award ceremonies
At the end of the day, employees want to feel valued. Publicly recognizing them shows everyone in the organization the value they add. It also makes praise the norm and can increase the peer-to-peer recognition your employees give to each other. Team staff meetings and meetings with leadership teams are great opportunities to genuinely show appreciation for remote employees. At each virtual meeting, select a couple of employees and try to say a few words about their recent accomplishments.
“Employee of the month” is no longer a new concept but it should still be utilized even in the virtual world with rewards and recognition platforms. Managers can nominate employees for specific awards and send out requests to their workforces to submit their votes on who should win. For the best results, decide which characteristics or values you want to award. This will help bring clarity to the award selection process. You can request that the entire company vote or narrow your focus on a specific department or team.
Put together a list of reasons the employee won this award to read out loud. If others left specific comments during the voting process, be sure to read those aloud as well to make the employee feel recognized for their efforts. To make the award extra special, highlight the winner on your website’s homepage, in a blog post, or on a new page dedicated to celebrating your current Employee of the Month.
As managers, it is important to understand that your employees look to you for direction and recognition every step of the way. They see you as the working standard and a leader to learn from. Therefore, being recognized and appreciated by you is a great honor and motivation for your employees to keep going and contributing. While the pandemic has posed great challenges for all of us, even as managers, never forget to take a step back to show employee appreciation. People can stay at companies for years just because they are given a handwritten “Thank you” note for their first month on the job. True and genuine appreciation can give you dedicated, passionate and loyal employees.
Bibliography:
Nelson., Erin. “15 Great Employee Appreciation Ideas for Remote Workers.” Fond, 7 Apr. 2021, www.fond.co/blog/15-great-employee-appreciation-ideas/.
Li, Lori. “15 Remote Employee Recognition Ideas to Build a Culture of Appreciation.” TINYpulse, 3 Dec. 2020, www.tinypulse.com/blog/15-remote-employee-recognition-ideas-to-build-a-culture-of-appreciation.
The JobHopin team