What makes employees feel valued? Our three top tips for showing your appreciation

This week we’ve discovered that a whopping 60% of businesses won’t be paying for Christmas parties this year, and that 29% of employees feel pressurised by the Secret Santa tradition. It’s tricky to know what’s right at this time of year, so here’s our handy guide to making sure your employees feel valued.

Tip 1 – Communication

Alistair Lamond, contributor at Your Money, says:

“Christmas is a time of reflection and gratitude, making it the perfect time to take a step back and reflect on the year that was.”

His article gives some great tips to help you make sure your business is ready for Christmas and your staff know exactly what to expect. Top of his list is communication, but he only refers to communication with suppliers and debtors. At Catalyst coaching and mentoring, we believe that communication with your staff is most important. Be clear about holiday dates, payroll deadlines and pay dates and let them know that you appreciate the good work they’ve done this year. This advice goes two ways – invite feedback from staff and encourage them to tell you how you’ve done this year. This applies to direct reports, peers, bosses and the wider organisation – there’s nothing like an informal 360-degree review to help you focus on your areas for improvement in the coming year.

Tip 2 – Bonuses

According to a survey reported by Dealer Support, almost half of employees said that getting a bonus would stop them from looking for a new job, and would be less likely to accept a new job if they were offered one. January is the time of year when people are most likely to search for new jobs as part of new year resolutions, making Christmas an excellent time to offer financial rewards.

The survey was carried out by One4all rewards, whose UK Managing Director, Alan Smith, told Dealer Support:

“Consider the amount of money that can be lost through recruitment costs when a member of staff resigns – never mind the softer negative impacts and knock-on effects that employees leaving can have, in terms of morale in the workplace – it is clearly something that is worth investing in.”

Although we believe there’s much more to making staff feel valued than financial rewards, it’s worth considering that benefits of £50 per employee or less are now non-taxable, making it easier and less expensive to treat employees.

Tip 3 – Professional development

According to a survey from Totaljobs,  two thirds of workers have changed jobs due to a lack of learning and development opportunities. If keeping your talent is important to you, you will need to invest in continued learning as a priority. This might take the form of on-the–job training, shadowing, gaining professional qualifications, or the chance to work with a coach or mentor. Business coaching can be an excellent way for individuals and team to unlock their potential at work. Executive and leadership coaching is becoming more popular as leaders understand the importance of working with independent business consultants to help them achieve business growth and deliver effective change management.

Find out more

If you’d like your executive team and staff at all levels to stay with your business in the coming year, make sure you’ve got the above pointers covered. If you’d like to talk to Catalyst about Coaching, mentoring or consultancy, please get in touch.