Tips for more appreciation: Effective part of the work culture
Friday, March 6, is Employee Appreciation Day. This day is hardly known in Switzerland. In Canada and the USA, however, employers are explicitly reminded every year to thank their employees for their work and commitment. The issue of recognizing and appreciating employees has now become much more important in Switzerland as well. March 6 is therefore an ideal occasion for bosses to say thank you.
Saying thank you for successful and good performance has a positive effect on the atmosphere and motivation in the team. According to the labor market study by Robert Half, all managers surveyed are actively committed to creating a better work culture. In this context, the promotion of communication and collaboration (47 %), the offer of mentoring, training and development programs (44 %) and the dissemination of corporate values and mission (38 %), are mentioned particularly frequently. The aforementioned representative survey was conducted in October 2019 by market research firm Rigour Research among 5165 HR professionals in 13 countries, including Switzerland.
The implementation of these measures requested by the respondents is only possible with the corresponding financial resources. If these are lacking or have already been exhausted, there are also very simple, cost-effective ways in which supervisors can show appreciation to their employees, and not just on Employee Appreciation Day. Zerrin Azeri, Associate Director at Robert Half, offers tips for more open recognition:
- Give positive feedback. Take the time to offer immediate praise. The effect will fizzle out if you don't show your appreciation until three weeks after a successful project completion.
- Offer an afternoon off or extra vacation time. More free time is very popular with Swiss people. Allow an afternoon off or extra vacation days after successful projects.
- Host small celebrations in the office. Successes are best celebrated together! Invite people to lunch together or provide the appropriate catering in meetings.
- Award your employees. Do you have programs at your company that recognize employees? At Robert Half, for example, bosses can nominate outstanding employees for an internal awards program. The winners receive a financial bonus.
- Remember birthdays, anniversaries and other holidays. A flower greeting or a small chocolate on the occasion of a birthday or other anniversary does not miss the effect. They show how important the employee is to you as a person.
Source: Robert Half
