According to the Harvard Business Review, 4 measures of job satisfaction include recognition, achievement, responsibility, and growth. Employees who are satisfied in their job are more likely to stay at their jobs and are more likely to produce higher-quality work. It’s a win-win for the employee and the company.

Today we are going to focus on the first aspect of job satisfaction, recognition. How do you show an employee you value them? This is something we intentionally focus on at beCAUSE minded and today we are sharing our tips!

10 Ways to Show Your Employees Appreciation 1. Give all the shout outs

If you’re a manager or CEO, try to give 2-3 shout outs per day on your company’s communication system. We use Slack (and love it). We celebrate when employees meet or pass a goal, post an extra creative Instagram reel, or create a system that’s way more efficient than the old one. It doesn’t have to be big things. It could be something as simple as thanking someone for making a second pot of coffee when the office pot ran out. Celebrate loudly (caps and emojis help if the praise is digital) and publicly.

2. Celebrate their company anniversaries

We like to celebrate work anniversaries in all the ways. Usually, it starts with a message in Slack packed with hearts, party hats, and maybe that champagne toast emoji. Everyone comments and wishes them a happy anniversary. We also have annual gifts. But we don’t do Rolexes. We do fun things like concrete planters with succulents, hanging moss designs, and custom jackets. We try to find unique branded business gifts that go with our company mission and are practical things our employees will actually use.

10 Ways to Show Your Employees Appreciation 3. Acknowledge personal events

Birthdays, illness, and major life accomplishments events are all times that you can show your employee that you care about them outside of just the value they provide for the company. Wellness gift boxes are a great way to show appreciation to a person suffering with an illness. And a cute baby blanket or lovey is appropriate when your employee first tells you they are expecting.

4. Explicitly state how their work contributes to the company’s overall mission

Your employees want to know that the work they do matters. Use quarterly goal meetings or annual reviews as opportunities to point out exactly how what they do contributes to the overall company goals and mission. The truth is, you wouldn’t have them on the team if they didn’t help your company reach its goals. But stating exactly how they contribute can go a long way in making sure they feel valued.

5. Celebrate team wins

While individual praise is important, it’s also imperative to celebrate team wins as well. There are many things your company cannot accomplish with only individual efforts. Celebrating the team wins can build comradery and job satisfaction. At my first business, when we hit $1 million in annual sales for the first time, I got everyone an engraved champagne bottle that said “1 million thanks to our (insert nickname here).” It was a huge hit!

10 Ways to Show Your Employees Appreciation 6. Provide breakfast, lunch, or happy hour

We love this one because it hits home with your employees who speak “receiving gifts” and “quality time” as their primary love languages. Try this during an intense work blitz, when everyone is working overtime or on the weekend. Or you can use this to celebrate a major company achievement!

7. Add “thank you” into your daily conversations

This should be so obvious, but honestly, how often do you actually say thank you to your employees? These are the people who are the lifeblood of your organization. A simple “thank you for always creating an organized agenda for our 1:1 meetings,” goes a long way.

10 Ways to Show Your Employees Appreciation 8. Feature your employees on your website

Display your team pride on the great world wide web! By putting their beautiful faces on your company website, you’re showing each of your employees they are an integral part of your business and that you take pride in them. You can also feature them in social media and blogs. Pretty soon they’ll be famous!

9. Keep an eye on their workload and take something off their plate if needed

Sometimes the best way to make your employee feel recognized is to throw them a life jacket when they are drowning. I’m sure we’ve all been there – when looming deadlines, client demands, and TPS reports are overwhelming us. Try to take something off their plate if you can. This not only helps them practically, but the emotional encouragement will definitely make them feel valued.

10 Ways to Show Your Employees Appreciation 10. Mail them something

One time I got some free product samples at a tradeshow. I divided them up and mailed samples to each member of my team. It cost me next to nothing. It took at most an hour. But it was huge hit with my team. For those who weren’t attending the show, they got to be a part of the event and the follow-up conversations. Plus, who doesn’t love freebies?

We hope these ideas will help you recognize each of your employees in a way that speaks to them! And if you’re looking for gift ideas for your team – head over to our website! All of our luxury gift boxes can be branded, which is perfect for celebrating work anniversaries and team wins!

We’re curious. What makes you feel recognized at work?