Employees who feel love and cared for perform better in the work environment. Studies show that 69% of employees would be willing to work harder if they felt their efforts were being recognized and appreciated. The word “love” is not a word you hear often in the office or conference rooms. However, it has a strong influence on workplace outcomes. The more cared for employees feel at work, the more engaged they are. So you may be asking yourself, 'what are some ways we can show love to employees without verbally dropping the “L” word?' Well we have answers!
Here are 5 ways to show employees love:
1. Get to know them
2. Recognize talent + reward
3. Transparency
4. Opportunities for development + growth
5. Mentoring + Networking
Get to know the employees for who they are at work and also outside of work. The television series, Undercover Boss, showcases the experiences of senior executives working undercover in their own companies to investigate how their firms really work. By doing so, they are able to identify how their company can be improved and recognize hard-working employees. While not every CEO has the time to go ‘undercover’ to resolve the underlying issues, they can remove themselves from their title and put themselves in their employee’s shoes. This will give the CEO greater understanding of who their employees are in and out of the work setting.
It is vital to recognize your employees for their hard work. Go above and beyond for those that embody the company’s core values. This will ultimately boost employee morale. In addition to employee recognition, give verbal feedback and words of encouragement to remind employees that their efforts aren’t going unnoticed.
Transparency can be well exemplified by Jenna Carson’s statement, “When a company makes concerted effort to communicate with its employees, it can lead to better engagement, more confidence in the company, and a workplace who is more motivated to go above and beyond to help the company succeed. If employees are made aware of where the company is at, of any upcoming news or development the business is experiencing, it creates a culture of openness that can have a lot of positive impacts for the business and employee happiness.”
Provide employees with training and development to improve their skills and learn new ones. If you don’t provide these opportunities, employees may look elsewhere for opportunities.
Being a mentor to your employees will create lasting relationships. Show the company values and create a culture of learning and growth. This mentorship gives employees the opportunity to grow and have their voices heard.
Leaders in a company must be available to their employees. Many leaders claim that they have an ‘open door policy,’ but in reality they are consistently unavailable, whether they’re in meetings or caught up in their own work. Build trust and loyalty within your company by meeting your employees where they are at and making yourself available for your employees.