For many of us, a large portion of our days is spent at work; in fact, the average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. Statistics revealed that an average human spends 1/3rd of their life at work. If we spend so much of our time at work, shouldn’t we strive to make it a place we look forward to visiting every day instead of living for the weekends? As a leader or as an organization, it is our responsibility to create a haven for our employees. They will perform at their peak only when they know they are valued, appreciated and motivated to keep outperforming themselves.

1. Go above and beyond to help them personally

Merely assisting your employees with work-related issues does not suffice any longer. A great leader should keep his eyes open for ways to help out with personal problems as well. Companies are revisiting their culture and transforming to inculcate care and consideration for their employees like never before. Increase in parental leave, bereavement leave, and even period leaves are being offered by companies like Zomato.

Another excellent example of this can be seen at Apple, where the mothers are given four weeks of paid leave before delivery and 14 weeks after. At the same time, the non-birth parents get six weeks of paid leave,

2. Add gratitude to the agenda.

Studies show that consistent gratitude practices within the workplace have the power to transform the entire culture of an organization. When employers show appreciation regularly, employees report increased well-being, stronger relationships with coworkers, and increased job satisfaction.

Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, LLC. (BDA) was placed among WA’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2017. The company achieved this status as they worked hard to show appreciation daily and not just when they achieved an extraordinary feat in their career. “Employees applauded their company for taking the time to care for and appreciate them through more than just yearly bonuses, creating opportunities for teams to connect and refuel through office events and activities,” reported Seattle Business Magazine.

3. Find ways to make your workplace happier

“Broadcasting a compliment makes both the giver and the receiver happier,” Bock wrote in his book: Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google that Will Transform How You Live and Lead.

Find ways to bring out the positive emotions in the employees of your organization that will eventually start reflecting on their work. Google is a great example of this.

Google’s former Senior Vice President of People Operations created what he called a “Wall of Happy.” Laszlo Bock developed an online tool called thanks, where employees could publicly thank one another for outstanding contributions or even small things they appreciated. He would print out those kudos and tack them up on a sign outside his office for all to see.

4. Give public recognition for a job well done

This can be done by creating a unique hashtag to appreciate your employees on social media channels, like KFC’s version of Employee Of The Month. Some companies have gone beyond that, such as Disney that does a marvellous job expressing their appreciation for their employees. Disney has created the #castcompliment social media recognition program that allows customers to recognize Cast Members via Twitter.

For an added personal touch, if a Cast Member’s name were included in correspondence from customers, Lee Cockerell, the former Executive Vice President of Operations, would make a copy of that letter and send it to the Cast Member along with a unique pin he had designed. He also recognized Cast Members for a job well done by writing a short note in the weekly employee newspaper, the Main Street Diary, or making a simple phone call.

In conclusion, as rightly said by David Novak, Executive Chairman of Yum! Brands, “People leave when they don’t feel appreciated. That’s why we’ve made recognition a really high value. Our business is people-capability first; then you satisfy customers; then you make money.” Looking after our employees’ needs is a foolproof way to succeed and reach new avenues of growth.