Unappreciated Employees Cost You More: Here’s Why

JOP blogs - Unappreciated Employees

Creating a sound workplace culture for employees where they get recognized has always been a cornerstone, adding a lot more to effective management. When your employees feel happy and appreciated at the workplace, they are more likely to be productive and engaged. Thus, it is critical to make your team feel content and fulfilled even at the office premises. 

Now, like every other top-level manager, if you think that conducting pulse surveys is more than enough to add inputs to your employees’ satisfaction; there are high chances that you’re not seeing it in the big picture. 

JOP blogs - Unappreciated Employees

Employee Appreciation and Recognition is important, way more than just a glittery Glassdoor review (not denying the fact that it can also impact your company’s employee retention on a significant level). 

A lot goes into making employees feel fulfilled at the workplace- appreciating them for their achievements stays on the top of the list. When managers demonstrate to employees the impact they have on the company’s success, and moreover, connect this to the employees’ personal progress, When you pay heed and appreciate the efforts of your employees and spend some time demonstrating how much impact they are having on the business, they feel good about their work and feel motivated to do even better in the future. Not only this, they take this feeling of being appreciated home with them. 

There’s a direct link between employee satisfaction and increased productivity. This is even backed by reports that reveal that happy employees are 12% (on average) more productive than their less-happy or unhappy colleagues. Now, this may sound like a win-win deal for sure; what’s not is the hidden cost of unappreciated employees. 

From a management standpoint, unappreciated employees are more likely to leave, costing hundreds of billions of dollars on an annual basis. Research reveals that unhappy workers cost up to $550 Billion to US companies in an year.  The same research further says that 66% of employees believe in leaving the job in the absence of appreciation. 

Clearly, millennials are becoming the dominating generation in the workforce, especially ever since the pandemic surfaced and industries witnessed a paradigm shift in the way they used to value a company’s assets. Due to the ever-changing business landscape and skill enhancement, the competition for talent has escalated beyond anticipation. This also affects the way organizations show their value to employees in the past and now. In comparison to the bygone era, employee recognition should remain on the front foot for companies making it more critical than ever. 

But what happens when employees feel unappreciated? They QUIT. 

But how can one prevent this? By spotting the signs that your employees feel undervalued. 

Here are the early signs for you to spot that your employees feel Unappreciated

• Losing morale: 

Whenever the employees feel unappreciated or undervalued, it can be clearly seen in their behavior. Employees start displaying a lack of interest in their day-to-day tasks when they feel that their contributions are not valued and appreciated. In such a case, they may lose confidence and morale and stop taking initiatives in projects and other employees’ activities. When your employees are unappreciated, they simply stop paying attention to team discussion and activities. 

• Reduced Productivity 

As said before, employee productivity is directly linked to employee satisfaction. Thus, when employee satisfaction at the workplace decreases, productivity decreases drastically too. In this case, regardless of their role, they will give minimum input into the company’s growth. 

Decreased productivity of one employee has a negative impact on the productivity of the entire team. Chances are, tasks, objectives, or maybe the entire project will be at a huge risk. 

• Decreased cooperation: 

When the productivity of unappreciated employees decreases, the cooperation among the team decreases simultaneously, potentially causing noticeable conflict. Thus, the mechanism spreads like wildfire and creates a chaotic situation in the entire organization. 

• Increased Turnover: 

This goes without saying; unhappy employees are more likely to leave the organization without bringing it to anyone’s notice. Thus, when the employees leave the organization on a large scale, the chances are that things are going south, and most of your employees are unhappy or undervalued in your companies. By this time, a team member/s is likely to possess resentment and may take a significant amount of time and resources of the organization. 

Now that you know how to spot the early signs of unappreciated employees, it’s of equal importance to know why it’s important to keep the employees engaged and appreciated in an organization. 

While keeping employees happy requires some effort on the part of managers, it’s not rocket science either. It’s human nature; employees want to be recognized when they do good work, feel respected.

Reasons why Employees need to be appreciated

• Appreciated employees are always happy: 

It’s no hidden secret; employees who are appreciated for every milestone they achieve are happier than their colleagues who don’t get appreciation. When you, as a top-level manager, show appreciation to even the smallest of achievements and how employees have a measurable impact on the business- they feel good and love to take that feeling home as well. Research by Huffpost says that good vibes in the office translate into a happier and more peaceful home life

• Appreciated employees grow to become great leaders:

Employee appreciation fosters and flourishes trust among the organization. You appreciate someone when you trust them. Appreciation and trust revolve around each other, and simply thanking your employees fosters an atmosphere of trust. Not only this, employees that are appreciated are the ones that grow to become appreciative leaders. 

• Appreciated employees stick around 

As mentioned before, appreciation fosters trust. Thus, employees who are appreciated stick around for a longer period of time than others. This way, companies can save dollars by simply appreciating their employees. Want to know how? Let’s figure this out. As per the report by the undercover recruiter, getting a new candidate onboard costs around $3,5oo and around $1,200 in the training process per year. Thus, when employees switch companies they lack appreciation. The cost seems such a huge dent in the company’s work culture. So, with just a little bit of appreciation, your company can save on dollars and keep the top talent around for much longer.

It Takes Lesser than you Think.

Thanking your employees doesn’t take much, but it matters. Yes, appreciation matters. Call it recognition, appreciation, or positive management communication, but this channels a whole new perspective in employees and motivates them to give the best of their ability. 

Here are some ways that you can appreciate your employees. 

– Give them timely positive feedback even for the smallest of the milestones achieved.

– Throw a random lunch or night out to celebrate the wins of the team.

– Give them gifts and goodies at festivals. 

– Give them gifts to make their job easier

– Appreciation email from the higher management for the accomplishments and…. there’s a lot on the list. 

Appreciation is a cheap yet effective method to channel the high-performance organizational structure. Thus, appreciation gives us a fair enough reason why companies must be intentional about creating a workplace where employees can thrive while infusing joy in performing

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Gaurav Sabharwal

CEO of JOP

Gaurav is the CEO of JOP (Joy of Performing), an OKR and high-performance enabling platform. With almost two decades of experience in building businesses, he knows what it takes to enable high performance within a team and engage them in the business. He supports organizations globally by becoming their growth partner and helping them build high-performing teams by tackling issues like lack of focus, unclear goals, unaligned teams, lack of funding, no continuous improvement framework, etc. He is a Certified OKR Coach and loves to share helpful resources and address common organizational challenges to help drive team performance. Read More

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