Importance of Making Employees Feel Valued

Making sure that your employees feel valued is one of the best ways to ensure your team members are content. When employees feel valued, there is a higher retention rate, greater productivity, and a better work environment. If you’re looking for new ways to make sure your employees feel valued, you're in the right place.

In this article...

• What does it Mean for Employees to Feel Valued?
• Why is it Important to Make Employees Feel Valued?
• Ways to Make Your Team Feel Valued
• Recognize Team for Their Hard Work
• Send Them a "Thank You" Note
• Give a Personalized Gift
• Organize a Fun Lunch Event
• Give Them a Day Off
• Increase Their Vacation Days
• Give a Bonus

What Does it Mean for Employees to Feel Valued?

When employees go to work, they want to be in a place where they feel respected and worthy. Work is a place where they are giving a lot of time and dedication. Because of this, employees want to feel as if what they are doing is being appreciated. Feeling valued can mean a lot of different things for an employee. For some, it's what keeps them at a company. While for others, feeling valued inspires them to do more. When employees feel valued, they build trust with the company and feel as if they are being led in the right direction. 

Why is it Important to Make Employees Feel Valued?

It’s important to make employees feel valued because they are what keeps the company running. Without your employees, you would be nowhere. You want employees to feel loyal to the company, especially if they are strong performers. Making sure that all their hard work is being recognized will create a sense of trust. This trust is crucial between an employee and the company.

Let employees know how important they are to the company. 

Ways to Make Your Team Feel Valued

If you’re looking for different ways to make your team feel valued, there are so many options. You can go for a team event or a corporate gift. It’ll depend on your team and their personal preferences, but no matter how you chose to do so, they will appreciate it. Here are seven of my favorite ways to make your team and employees feel valued. 

Recognize Team for Their Hard Work

Although this may seem simple, recognization goes a long way. Sometimes all it takes is a simple reminder that you see all their hard work and that it is making a difference. You can recognize your team by sending out an e-mail saying great work, or you can bring it up during a meeting. 

Recognizing your team for their hard work is a quick, yet appreciated, way to value your team. Even if there’s no specific reason for recognizing them, except for the fact that they’ve been doing a great job staying on task or completing work. Even when nothing “big” happens, you should still be showing employees appreciation. The fact that they show up to work every day with a positive attitude and are ready to complete tasks is a reason to recognize them. 

When you recognize your team, it will make them feel valued and acknowledged. It will inspire them to keep working hard and keep up with what they are doing. 

All it takes is small acts of recognition to make employees feel valued.

Send them a “Thank You” Note

Receiving a handwritten note is meaningful no matter what the occasion is. A quick way to brighten your employee's day and remind them how much you value them is to send them a thank you note. 

Thank you notes don’t have to be anything intricate or detailed, they can be short and to the point. You can call out specific projects or moments in the note to make sure that your team members know you personalized their notes. Make sure to write a different note for each individual. Part of valuing your employees is making sure that they are seen as individuals. 

No matter if they are work-from-home employees or located in the office, a note can still be delivered. For those who work from home, you can have it mailed directly to their house. And for those who are in the office, you can either leave it on their desk or have it delivered to their house. Sometimes having it delivered through snail mail is an added extra surprise. 

A thoughtful thank you note is always well reciprocated and is a great way to acknowledge your team. There are so many reasons you can write thank you notes, even if there is no reason at all. Everyone deserves random acts of kindness and appreciation!

Give a Personalized Gift

A personalized gift circles back to the idea that all employees should be seen as individuals. With personalized gifts, you can buy the same gift, but add a touch of individuality to each. Personalized gifting is a gifting trend - making it easier than ever to find the perfect one for your team. 

Some popular personalized corporate giftings ideas are water bottles, wellness boxes, mugs, trophies, and even jewelry. If you’re looking for something your employee can show off, a Deco Fortune Locket. You can pick one of four colors and also include a customizable fortune on the inside. The fortune can be words of gratitude or a date/project that is important to the employee and their career. 

Everyone loves gifts, so adding a touch of personalization will make the one even more special. No need to be generic with your gift-giving! You can find a way to customize almost anything. Make your employees feel valued with a gift that reminds them of their achievements. 

A personalized gift makes your employee feel valued as an individual. Pictured Deco Fortune Locket (Onyx)

Organize a Fun Lunch Event

Who doesn’t love a fun social event with free lunch? Treat your employees to lunch! You can have a lunch event either in the office or at a restaurant for any occasion! Maybe your team just finished a big project or had perfect attendance for two months. You can find any reason to celebrate your valuable team. 

A fun lunch event is a great way to take a few hours to unwind from work and have a team bonding experience. You can order in or go to a restaurant that the team decides on as a group. This will allow everyone to forget about everything going on in their work lives, and take a moment to enjoy themselves. Employees will leave the event feeling more valued than ever. 

Not only is a free lunch generous and thoughtful, but you’re also giving them some time to wind down and relax. Incorporate different icebreakers and exercises that will allow your team to get to know each other better. Employees also feel valued when they have good connections in their workplace. 

Give Them a Day Off

A surprise day off is a way to show employees that you value not only their hard work but also their well-being. A day off can be used to give a mental health day. This allows them to sleep in and put some time aside for themselves. 

Overworking employees is detrimental and can lead to burnout. This will make them feel anything but valued. They will accept an unplanned day off graciously. Employees will be thankful to have a day where they can just kick back and do whatever sounds good to them.

A day off is a good idea when a big project has been completed. After all the hard work was put in and there is some downtime, allow them to spend it at home. I guarantee that the next day, they will return to work in a good mood and ready to tackle the next project.

A day off shows that you value your employee's well-being.

Increase Their Vacation Days

Vacation days are extremely valuable to employees. If you want to show employees how valuable they are to you, increase their vacation days. It doesn’t have to be anything drastic, but even two or three days will make a difference. Extra vacation days allow team members to spend extra time with their family and friends. 

When you give employees something valuable, they feel valued. Also, they are more likely to give you something valuable in return. In this case, their time and hard work are valuable. 

Give a Bonus

Money is another valuable asset to employees. And one thing for sure is that they are never going to turn down a bonus. If your team members are producing work that goes above and beyond, surprise them with a little extra money. 

A bonus is reflective of the work that your team members are putting forward. There’s no better way to say that you value them than by presenting them with a bonus. They will feel valued and see that their hard work is paying off. 

Conclusion

Making sure that employees feel valued is the top way to ensure employees are happy at their job. To make your team feel valued, all it takes are small acts of appreciation throughout the year. This can range from “just because” notes to gifts celebrating a big accomplishment. 

When employees feel valued, their quality of work increases, they are more productive, and they have more loyalty to the company. Make sure that you are appreciating all your team members for a job well done.

For more corporate blog posts, check out...

• How to Support Work-From-Home Employees
• 13 Ways to Appreciate Employees for Great Work
• How to Celebrate a 5-Year Work Anniversary
• How to Keep Employees Motivated
• How to Create a Meaningful Corporate Gift