2 in 5 employees feel under-valued

Worryingly, more than two fifths (41%) of the working population do not feel valued in their current place of work.

Age-wise, our research uncovered that employees between 45 and 54-years old were least likely to feel valued, and those aged 65 or above were most likely to feel valued.

So, let’s take a look at what can cause employees to feel unappreciated…

1. No praise

Put yourself in your employees’ shoes. There’s nothing worse than spending a significant chunk of your day working, only to get no acknowledgement of your efforts.

It doesn’t need to be all the time and you don’t need to go overboard, but if someone’s done a good job, tell them!

2. Unaware of individual strengths

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Recognise employees’ assets and allow them to showcase them. By restricting people from utilising their talents, you could be unknowingly undervaluing them.

3. Resistance to change or ideas

By dismissing the perspectives, ideas and processes put forward by employees, you’ll make them feel like their input isn’t esteemed. It’s not uncommon for employees who have managers who only follow their own direction to view them as egotistical, either.

4. Lack of emotion

It’s important to show employees that you care about them as people. If you’re reading this saying ‘I do’, ask yourself, do you actually show it? It’s great that you care, but it’s near redundant if the sentiment isn’t read by others.

Simple things like asking how they are, taking an interest in their personal life and organising fun team activities, are just a handful of ways to go about showing it.

5. Micro-management

This is when managers closely observe and control the workflow of their subordinates. Micro-management can be crippling to an employee’s self-esteem, as it can make them feel like they can’t be trusted to do their job properly.

6. Taking credit

If an employee’s put blood, sweat and tears into a project, make it known! Continuance to take credit for other people’s work will quickly demoralise those effected, and could at worst result in a slump in discretionary effort.

7. Feeble feedback

Make sure you show employees you’re invested in their career by providing frequent feedback on what they’re doing well, as well as where they could improve.

Conversely, give employees plenty of opportunity to feedback with regards to how they’re getting on, and give them flexibility to steer the direction of their progression.

The damage

The knock-on effects of employees feeling undervalued can be far reaching. A handful of examples include:

• Increase in employee turnover
• Less discretionary effort
• Reduction in productivity
• Less innovation and creativity
• Increased absenteeism
• Slump in morale.

How we can help

We are the human in HR. With everything from harnessing positive cultures to managing productive teams, our HR experts are here to help you.

We practice what we preach too, which is why we’ve featured in the UK’s ‘Top 100 Best Companies to Work For’ by The Sunday Times for the last three years in a row.

For a helping hand with HR, get in touch with the team on 0345 844 1111 or hello@citation.co.uk today.