Five Simple Ways To Show Your Team You Appreciate Them

Post written by

Gregg Ward




One of my first real jobs after college was working as a temp in a college in New York City. I’d been assigned to a crazy busy office in the adult training department. The boss had me keying printed training manuals into our new Apple II computer, which required me to save my work onto floppy discs (anyone remember those?).

A number of times, I got so busy I forgot to save my work. One afternoon, the computer crashed and I lost days of work. I was devastated, and my boss was furious.

But, he didn’t curse me, just the situation. After he calmed down, he told me how much he appreciated me regardless of my mistake and suggested I take the rest of the day off to collect myself. He said: “Come back tomorrow. You’ll feel better, and you can start again.”

I was so grateful that he didn’t fire me, that he told me he appreciated me and that he gave me time to recover, that I vowed to myself that I would make things right immediately. That night, after he’d left, I went back into the office and pulled an all-nighter rekeying those manuals. By the next morning, I’d almost gotten back to where I was when the system crashed. He was stunned, and I was extremely proud. I continued to work for him for four more very productive, informative and collaborative years.

The lesson here: Keep telling your employees how much you appreciate them, and they’ll go the extra mile for you when the going gets rough.

Here are five simple ways to show your team you appreciate them.

1. Tell them, regularly.

People who are proud of their work don’t necessarily need to hear how much you appreciate them, but you should tell them anyway, just in case they’re not sure you do. Don’t assume your team knows how much you appreciate them -- tell them regularly and sincerely.

2. Show them, regularly.

It’s not enough to tell your team you appreciate them, you need to show them. Sometimes this means buying everyone a round of coffee or snacks just because, or typing “I appreciate you!” in an email. Other times, it means giving them what they need most, like a break at unexpected times, a fun day out at the ballpark or time off to do things with their family and friends. Do more than tell ‘em -- show ‘em.

3. Cut them some slack.

Most people don’t screw up intentionally. Everyone makes mistakes — even you. So when your team makes mistakes, do your utmost to put things into perspective and cut them some slack. Nine times out of 10, if you give your team the benefit of the doubt when mistakes happen, they’ll step up and make things right quickly. When they do, tell them you appreciate them for it.

4. Be specific about what you appreciate.

Some team members are really good at churning work out at a fast clip, others are experts in quality control and still others are idea machines. Each person on your team has specific talents and skills that they bring to the job. So, when you tell them you appreciate them, be specific about what you appreciate, don’t just generalize. Most people want to know what exactly you appreciate them for.

5. Appreciate them even when you’re giving negative feedback.

Nobody likes negative feedback. It’s almost always a downer. However, most people know it’s necessary from time to time. So, when you give your team feedback, don’t go “all negative.” Try to remind them of what you do actually appreciate about them while you’re providing that feedback. Using specifics will put things into perspective for them. They won’t feel like you think they’re all bad, and that’ll make it much more likely that they’ll step up, fix their screw ups and stay loyal to you and your goals. Add a little bit of honey to the vinegar -- it’ll help the medicine go down.

As I look back on that first job, I realize now how fortunate I was to have a boss who actually appreciated me, even when I made a big mistake. He taught me that showing genuine appreciation has real value when it comes to motivating and retaining our best and brightest employees.

Gregg Ward Gregg Ward Forbes Councils Member

