Do your employees feel valued? (Part 2)
Part of creating a psychologically (mentally) safe workplace is ensuring your employees feel valued. A lack of this can foster feelings of powerlessness – a major risk factor to psychological safety.
Following on from Part 1 of this article, here are some additional, specific, and practical ways to make your team feel valued.
- Recognise or celebrate each employee’s work anniversary in some way. It shows you care and know how much time they have devoted to the organisation. Milestone anniversaries are especially important to acknowledge.
- Ask their opinion about how things might be improved. After all, they are at the front line and may well have many ideas about how processes and systems can be streamlined.
- Provide frequent feedback
Notice your internal reaction when you read that. Many of us have inadvertently been programmed to see ‘feedback’ as something that is always negative.
This shouldn’t be the case! Letting people know what they are doing right, how they are contributing, and how skilled you see them as being gives them a feeling of being appreciated.
It may also leave them more open to receiving ‘negative’ feedback as they experience feeling valued, not just criticized. - Ensure your employees have opportunity to do work that challenges them, showing that you trust their capabilities. The goal is to stretch – not break – them. Look for times when you can increase their levels of responsibility so they can grow and develop.
- Invest time, money, and energy in their ongoing development. Talk with them about what skills they’d like to develop that can enable them to do their work more effectively and efficiently.
You might also be able to help them move towards their future career goals by having a conversation with them about their development needs.
So there you have it - a total of 11 specific things (in Parts 1 and 2 of this article) you can do to ensure your team feels their contribution matters.
Which action(s) will you take this week?
