How To Stop Your Employees Not Feeling Valued

In this article, we show you practical methods to stop employees not feeling valued, and demotivated as a result.

This is a scenario some may be able to relate to. After weeks of work on a long project, it is received with not so much as a second word from your supervisor. This is just one example of a missed opportunity to show employees how valued they are and increase job satisfaction, morale, teamwork and productivity amongst a range of benefits. 

In this article we discuss practices you can adopt to stop your employees not feeling valued. 

Support employees in having a work-life balance

Employees who work till late and at all hours can end up feeling unvalued by their employers. When employees feel like they constantly have to make a choice between work and other responsibilities, the results will be felt in their output. Prevent this from happening by appreciating that employees have lives outside of work and making room for them to tend to those lives.

Encourage a work life-balance through flexible schedules, work from home options as well as family friendly policies. In addition to stopping employees not feeling valued, these policies increase engagement, productivity and on-job satisfaction.

Balance criticism with praise 

Prevent employees not feeling valued by balancing criticism with praise. As a leader, what you say has a lot of impact on your employees’ morale. If you are the kind who always points out mistakes, employees will be left feeling like their efforts will only yield negative results. Instead, give some positive feedback as well to confirm to employees that they are valued.

In cases where a mistake is repeated, continuous criticism might not be the most helpful route. Consider sitting down with the employee to figure out what the underlying issue could be. Could this be a situation where they might benefit from training? Do they need to shadow another colleague or is it time for a change in tasks? 

Avoid comparisons 

‘You should be more like John’, is one way to make employees feel undervalued. While it is a good idea to praise and spotlight employees who excel, it can be harmful to team dynamics if one employee is praised and others are criticised. To prevent employees not feeling valued, steer away from insinuating that they should be like someone else. 

When praising your achievers, mention how their specific efforts benefited everyone. You might share how their most recent work helped the company in achieving an organisational objective. 

Seek input and feedback

Stop employees not feeling valued by seeking both their input and feedback. Employees are integral parts of the business and what they have to say can be great for your bottom line. By seeking input, you foster innovation, receive varied ideas and show employees that you value what they have to say.

Whenever possible, seek employee input before instituting certain directives. Take an example of trying to improve your customer communication channels. The first input you should think about getting is that of the customer facing teams. 

After putting in place initiatives, ask for feedback. Finding out how employees are interacting with it and what feedback they too are getting from your customers can provide valuable information such as on what improvements can be made. There are several channels you can use to get employee feedback.

Make employee growth a priority

Your employees aren’t going to feel valued if they are stuck in one role, with the same skills, knowledge and responsibilities for the entirety of their tenure at an organisation. Prevent employees not feeling valued by making growth a part of your culture.

Support employees in upgrading their academic qualifications, by organising trainings, supporting certifications and sending your team to conferences where they can learn. 

A little gratitude goes a long way

One of the ways to prevent employees not feeling valued is to show gratitude. A 10 year study on employee engagement, retention and results found that 79% of people who quit their jobs cited a lack of appreciation as the major reason. That’s how important gratitude and appreciation are. 

Gratitude can be reflected in your practices, the culture and the perks you give employees. 

Make mutual respect and gratitude part of the culture 

It is important for management to show their gratitude and respect for employees. It is equally as important for employees to exhibit these qualities towards each other. Team mates who get along work better together, they can challenge each other in healthy ways and support each other in finishing tasks. 

Some people may be better equipped to show respect to each other than others so do not leave this up to chance. Set up clear guidelines for how employees should treat each other. Let employees know how they can respectfully seek to resolve conflicts when they arise. By doing this, you show employees that you care how they are treated.

Team dynamics are equally important in showing employees they are valued. Make team bonding a part of the culture. This lets employees interact away from the workplace and even form friendships. Friendships in the work place are known to increase job satisfaction and so much more. 

Take a holistic look at the work experience

It may not be possible to do everything necessary to show employees you value them. But it is possible to make small improvements in different areas. Offering a big salary alone may not be enough to show employees that they are valued.

Take into consideration salary, perks including seemingly small things like providing tea, communication in the workplace, the environment, how clean the bathrooms are, work flexibility and so much more. 

In Summary 

Unfortunately, feeling undervalued is a situation many employees can relate to. Employees who do not feel valued have low motivation and low morale. On the other hand, when employees feel valued, they feel a connection with their work and are more likely to stay at their jobs for longer.

Showing employees that they are valued might just be the missing link to solving productivity and performance issues within your company.