Because there are so many great articles on employee engagement and creating a culture of appreciation in the workplace, I want to share the best of these resources with you. Here are my favorites from this week. I have included some of my thoughts on these gratitude strategies (“Grategies”) and would like to hear your comments too.
True Employee Engagement Requires An Employee Feedback Loop by Bruce Kasanoff
(Forbes.com) “This sort of negative surprise comes when firms lose touch with their employees, or when their idea of employee feedback is an annual survey that takes six months to “process”, and then climaxes with senior leadership saying something like: here are the three things we took away from last year’s survey.”
My Thoughts: Employee engagement is not something you DO, it’s who you ARE. When you get the culture right, everything else falls into place.
Employee Engagement: It’s On the Rebound — And What It Means for Productive Leaders By Laura Stack
(Huffington Post) “When employees enjoy their jobs enough to give it their all–and pour their discretionary time and effort into it–productivity soars. This can translate into greater company profits.”
My Thoughts: More good news for those organizations who want evidence that engagement is more than just a “soft skill.”
5 Ways Leaders Rock Employee Recognition by Meghan M. Biro
(Forbes.com) “Financial reward is a great thing, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the equivalent of recognition. Let’s not kid ourselves. It’s a short term solution. Neither is constant praise for average work. Recognition is a key tool in employee retention programs for a reason: people need more than constructive feedback and positive affirmation. They need recognition of extra effort. They need to “feel” it. This will never go away as a basic human need.”
My thoughts: When you tell your employees you appreciate them, you create goodwill. When you write it down, you give them tangible evidence of a job well done – a treasure.
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Lisa Ryan, creator of Grategy® is a professional speaker and bestselling author who focuses on workplace culture. For more information contact (216) 225-8027. For information on Grategy® programs please visit http://www.grategy.com. Follow on Twitter: @Grategy
