Written by Amanda Watson, Marketing Specialist/Office Manager (Portage, IN)

I recently read a blog about employee appreciation in which the blogger suggested ways for supervisors and managers to show their employees that they are appreciated in order to increase employee engagement, the emotional commitment employees have to the group or organization they work for and its goals. Here are some fun facts about the benefit of engaged employees:

• Companies with engaged employees have 6% higher profit margins and 5x greater shareholder returns.[1]
• Employee engagement can help lead to higher productivity and service levels, greater customer satisfaction and increased sales.[2]
• Companies with high employee engagement scores had twice the customer loyalty (repeat purchases, recommendations to friends) than companies with average employee engagement levels.[3]
• Engaged employees were found to be five times less likely than unengaged employees to have a safety incident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time safety incident.[4]
• Employees with lower engagement are four times more likely to leave their jobs than those who are highly engaged.[5]
• Companies with high levels of employee engagement improved 19.2% in operating income while companies with low levels of employee engagement declined 32.7% over the study period.[6]
• A study of 64 organizations revealed that organizations with highly engaged employees achieve twice the annual net income of organizations whose employees lag behind on engagement.[7]

This blog struck a chord with me because, as an employee in a supportive role, sometimes I can feel like my contributions are undervalued, which can affect my productivity in the office. When I’ve received recognition for my efforts, such as a brief “good job” e-mail, a thank-you note or a gift, I’ve felt more appreciated and wanted to work harder.

In a recent Holladay Properties blog, John Phair mentioned that we are experiencing some employee turnover (one of the “not so successful” items on his 2^nd quarter update) and asked for help and suggestions for improvement there. John mentioned offering opportunities for improvement and advancement, quality training and the right equipment and tools, but I think employee appreciation has to be near the top of the list. At Holladay Properties, we have some of the hardest working, most diligent and dedicate employees in the workforce today. Unfortunately, some employee efforts don’t always get the recognition they deserve.

When you work hard and accomplish a goal, it’s natural to want some kind of recognition for that achievement, but it’s easy for small accomplishments to go overlooked. We don’t want our employees to feel unhappy or unappreciated in the workplace so I’m taking this opportunity to open a forum for the employees of Holladay Properties, and really the employees of any company, to speak up and say what kind of appreciation they’re really looking for, be it an occasional e-mail from a supervisor, a periodic employee appreciation lunch, or whatever.  What have your supervisors done in the past that made you feel valued, or not valued?

Feel free to leave your comments anonymously and please do not call out anyone specifically. Keep your comments clean and appropriate. Let’s get engaged and help Holladay find ways to make sure we keep our awesome employees.