66% of employees report they would likely leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated by their managers or leaders. All the industry hype around employee feedback and recognition has made employee value seem very complicated to leaders lately. Can you blame them?

Appreciating your employees isn’t new, but strategizing new engagement plans for the modern workforce has left employers buying ping pong tables, snack bars and weekly lunches. We’re not here to say the newest engagement strategies are wrong, but maybe we’re overthinking our game plans here. Making your employees feel valued certainly can be complicated, but it doesn’t always have to be.

In light of Employee Appreciation Day this month, incorporate these easy employee value acts into your everyday flow, and celebrate a little bit of employee appreciation every day.

Is it possible you’re giving employee feedback the wrong way? Read this to find out.

Show Them Their Team Counts on Them

Manager to employee feedback has proven itself effective in several cases (employee feedback is 30X more likely to make workers actively engaged at work when managers focus on employee’s strengths!), but feedback from team members and clients is another incredibly important area of appreciation to focus on.

Simple ways to get this started from a manager standpoint is to share feedback you hear from clients, or other teams who have collaborated with your company, with your whole team. Whether it’s employee or department-specific, forward on the news about noticeable hard work so everyone can congratulate the team member or group for their recognized efforts and outcomes.

Encouraging internal feedback (employee to employee) will take a little more legwork to get everyone in the habit. Intranets provide a laid back space for employees to openly encourage each other and give (virtual) high-fives to one another across the company. Another simple way to integrate employee to employee feedback is by making it a mandatory piece of a weekly or monthly meeting.

Have employees go around the room in your next company or department meeting and ask each team member to pick a person they’re proud of with an assignment, situation or project-specific example. This allows employees to debrief after (or even during) big hurdles they’ve been dedicating noticeable amounts of time on.

Fill Everyday Conversations with Intent & Challenge

Think about a time when you felt you put your best foot forward at work. There were probably many factors into why the outcome turned out so well, including your confidence in knowing you were the best possible person to carry out the job. Employees perform at higher rates when they feel the work they’re putting forth is uniquely successful because of their personal approaches and tactics.

What’s not so motivating is the ingrained thought that every employee is replaceable.

Empower your employees with their own strengths. Let’s say Susan the Project Manager showed exceptional leadership last week during a really important in-house client meeting. When you’re assigning tasks for the week, use examples like this for the reason you gave particular employees certain projects.

For example: “Susan, you did an outstanding job with our in-house meeting last week; I’d like for you to take on all the monthly presentations for our big clients moving forward; your attention to detail and organization style is just what we need to run this project smoothly.”

This kind of tactical assignment leading gives your employees a better idea of where you, as their leader, seek their most prominent strengths.

Read the true impact you can receive as a business by implementing continuous employee feedback during change management.

Present Opportunities

91% of high performing teams reported working for a company who offered learning and development opportunities to them. This is an employee value strategy that not only shows your employees you care about their career development plan, but works as an internal boost for your company value as well.

Keep your eyes peeled for conferences or learning opportunities that cater to specific employees on your team. Offer a stipend to help pay for the conference and allow them to take some paid time off to attend. To truly show targeted value, it’s okay to single employees out for specific events from time to time (as long as you’re not developing favoritism).

There are so many ways to cultivate a workplace of value and feedback. The “small” strategies can prove to be just as effective (maybe even more so) than the larger or flashier ones, too. Each team member will react differently to every form of appreciation, so it doesn’t hurt to have a few different tactics up your sleeve.

Have you tried any of the methods above and had incredible turnaround because of them? Or perhaps the exact opposite? Share with us on social (@Engagiant_iRevü) – we’re always looking to hear from other leadership enthusiasts in the space.

Need a little guidance with improving the frequency of your employee feedback plan? We have just the resource! Download our quick and easy guide to making the move to real-time, frequent feedback to get cracking on your feedback loop.