Employee Appreciation in the corporate culture, well, it does ring a bell. As the saying goes, “Next to excellence, comes the appreciation of it”. Businesses that proactively use appreciation attest to its powerful value. Appreciation when it becomes part of the corporate culture can be the secret weapon that propels companies past their competition.

Lack of appreciation in the workplace causes employee and customer frustration resulting in crippling performance, productivity and profitability.

We must find time to stop and thank people who make a difference. Too often, workers are ignored, asked to perform tasks without proper guidance, given little feedback so they can do their jobs well, rarely acknowledged for their good work and only singled out when they make mistakes. This takes its toll on even the most energetic and positive employees. Business owners and managers have to ask themselves how much they value their employees and customers. In many cases, the truthful answer would be ‘not much’.

There are lot of ways appreciation will motivate an employee, one quick thought will be handing out ‘employee of the month’ awards and make other token gestures to their employees. Appreciation is not just another word for gratitude, but rather is an obsession with value.

More than half of employees admit they would stay longer at their jobs if their bosses showed more appreciation according to a recent survey. While it may come as no surprise that the majority of employees surveyed say pay raises are the number one way to make them feel appreciated at work, other types of valued form of appreciation include unexpected treats and rewards, involvement in decision making, company wide recognition, opportunities to do interesting work, telecommuting options and company sponsored social events.

Genuine appreciation seeks out the value, the worth, within every employee, every customer interaction and every situation and then uses that value proactively to generate business success. For a job well done, saying a simple ‘thank you’ in person or a hand written thank you note, can go a long way in making employees feel appreciated. At a tech company, it’s all easy to just write e-mails but it takes time to sit down and write out a note, but it goes a long way.

Thanking employees regularly may also help them accept criticism better, as long as the feedback is specific. If you try to make your employees feel better at what they do, positive and negative feedback become a regular part of the conversation. A happy manager should be one who makes an effort to walk around the office each day looking for opportunities to praise the members of the team. A good leader is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for others.

While it is important to appreciate those who provide great service, it’s also important to appreciate those who provide us job security- our customers. Look for small, everyday opportunities to appreciate your frequent callers, just show them a random act of kindness. It could be something as simple as inviting them for a coffee or sending a bouquet.

Develop a culture of appreciation throughout the entire organization that can lead to success: increased performance, productivity and profitability. Not only that, but this success comes not at the cost of employee well-being but rather as a result of appreciation’s ability to increase employee happiness and well-being.