Leaders, Stop Treating Employees Like Cars
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Today is about appreciating your employees.
Why? Because they aren’t cars.
There is this weird and very old-school mentality that floats around in some organizations like, "Why would you need to appreciate people for just doing their jobs?"
Time out.
When your car drives you from one place to the next without breaking down, your car is just doing its job.
Your employee is a human being.
Unless your employees love your company so much they would volunteer to do it for free, they are giving you something that is valuable to you.
They are choosing to work with you and they need to be appreciated.
They are giving you effort, showing up for you, choosing to work for your company, execute your business plan, and make you successful.
And mean it (why the hell not?)
Be authentic, actually mean it, care about the people that are choosing to show up for you.
It's not just them doing their job, employees can try as hard (or as little) as they want. That's the reality and they know it.
You can't get fired for just doing an okay job.
But whether or not I, as an employee, choose to do an exceptional job, care about my company, care about my leader, and actually give discretionary effort beyond what I have to do, that's up to me.
Appreciation keeps people inspired.
When people feel appreciated, they feel like what they are contributing to is valuable. Whether they’re filing papers or working directly with clients, the day-to-day tasks of their role may not always keep them inspired - but instilling a sense of purpose will.
The best way to instill that sense of purpose is by reinforcing it through appreciating the effort they’re putting in, and recognizing the details.
When people hear how their effort is appreciated, how they’re contributing to something bigger, the result is they want to work harder, try harder, they're more loyal, they stay longer in their jobs, they're happier employees, and they're more productive and engaged.
And it don’t cost a thing. So go do it, appreciate your people.
Want more?
This article was created by Galen Emanuele for the #culturedrop. Free leadership and team culture content in less than 5 minutes a week. Check out the rest of this month's content and subscribe to the Culture Drop at https://bit.ly/culturedrop