Simply put, everyone likes to feel appreciated. When employees feel like their hard work is recognized, they’re naturally more motivated to keep these habits going. According to a Gallup study published in 2017, a disengaged workforce will cost companies around $300 billion each year. When you invest in your employee appreciation, you invest in your business in an effective and positive way.

Learning To Say Thanks

One of the most important things you can do for your employees is learn to say thanks, and 4 ways you can tell your employees thank you in your own special way are:

1. Employee of the month – Having an employee of the month might not be the norm for office settings, but that’s what makes it fun. Business leaders can choose a member of their team each month and display their photo on the wall over a list of their recent achievements. Not only will this communicate your own thanks to your employee, but it’ll give them an opportunity to feel proud and show off a bit of what they’ve been up to.

2. Monthly lunches – Monthly lunches are highly effective in a few different ways. Not only do they show appreciation to your employees with action, but they also provide ample opportunity for teams to connect, and they allow businesses to network out in their local communities. Your monthly lunches can switch it up with different local restaurants each month, you can choose the employee of the month’s favorite lunch spot, you can pick a location from a hat or a bowl, or you can establish a team favorite local spot that you visit every month.

3. Be liberal with your praise – Sometimes you don’t have to make a grand gesture to make your employees feel appreciated. When you see employees doing great things, acknowledge those things and freely give up verbal praise. These little boosts throughout the day or week can be just what employees need to feel inspired in what they do.

4. Provide small tokens of your appreciation – Little surprises make big waves when it comes to employee appreciation. Small tokens of your appreciation like a favorite candy bar, a small gift card, movie tickets, or fun office supplies will really brighten their day after a job well done. When your team works hard getting a project completed, they’ve had some great ideas, or they’ve simply done an awesome job this week, consider what a small token of appreciation will mean to them.