America’s economy is booming. America’s unemployment rate is at 3.6%, which is just above pre-pandemic levels. More workers are finding jobs than ever before.
But many workers are unsatisfied with their jobs. They don’t feel like their employers care about them and want them to succeed. An easy way to help your employees is with positive reinforcement examples.
What is positive reinforcement in the workplace like? What should you receive from your employees? What should you give them for their hard work?
Answer these questions and you can keep your employees happy for years to come. Here is your quick guide.
Create Onboarding Experiences
Your employees should experience employee engagement ideas from the outset. You should take steps right away so your employees feel like welcome members of your company. Be there to greet them on the first day and give them a welcome pack with supplies.
Give them a clear sense of what you want from them. You can give them an orientation packet that outlines your expectations for their performance and links them to company resources online. You can hire a culture coach who will bring your new hires up to speed on the company culture.
But make sure to do something fun that they will remember. You can organize a party for your new hires or start a new hire club, encouraging the employees to get to know each other.
Talk to Your Employees About Recognition
Some people like public recognition and don’t mind things like award shows. Other people don’t like being the center of attention, and they prefer receiving praise behind closed doors.
Talk to each employee and figure out what they want from you in terms of recognition. Then individualize your positive employee feedback to meet their needs.
The more you individualize the things, the more respected your employees will feel. If you are giving awards for work performance, try to give awards that relate to your employees’ likes and interests.
Ask Questions to Your Employees
Positive reinforcement isn’t just about praise and rewards. Your employees want to feel like you respect them and acknowledge their skills.
If you’re in a rough spot, ask your employees for advice. Take notes on the advice they give you and use it to resolve a problem.
You should ask for feedback as much as you give feedback. If your employees critique you for something, you should get training so you resolve your weaknesses.
Promote Individuality
Employees do not want to be cogs in your corporate machine. Encourage your employees to be themselves at work in a variety of ways.
Having casual conversations with your workers is a simple way to reinforce your employees. Ask them questions about a range of topics, including things like their favorite sports teams.
You should also celebrate the cultures your employees come from. Commemorate important holidays and give your employees time off to celebrate those occasions.
Run a variety of events, including creative contests. Your employees can produce captions for images, draw their own images, and write short stories. This encourages your employees to express themselves and bring in new ideas.
Provide Benefits
Parties and perks only go so far. Your employees will leave your company if you do not care for them on a fundamental level.
You should give them flexible work hours so they can take care of their families and personal responsibilities. Allow them to work from home at least two days a week.
You should also give your employees a few weeks of paid time off. These weeks are separate from holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. All employees should receive automatic paid time off for these occasions.
Your employees should receive full healthcare benefits as well. These benefits should include dental and eye care, and you should provide workers’ compensation in case your employees get injured on the job.
Employees who are laid off should receive severance packages so they can pay the bills while they work. Retirees should receive pensions so they have a comfortable retirement. Pensions can include stock options with your company, allowing employees to earn money over time.
Throw Going-Away Parties
Turnover can be difficult to handle, even if an employee is retiring from your company willingly. To smooth the transition, you should throw a going-away or retirement party for each employee.
The party does not have to be elaborate. You can buy a cake and bring all of the employees together to say goodbye to the retiree.
After the party, you should have an exit interview where you go over the reasons why your employee is leaving the company. You can ask for comments about your performance and the company culture. Don’t just ask for positive feedback, but ask for negative critiques so you can prevent future resignations.
Support Volunteering
Your employees may have different causes that they care about. You should encourage them to support their causes by giving them time off to volunteer in their community.
You can also match their donations to charitable causes or run fundraisers. If your employee is running an event, your company can sponsor the event and provide supplies.
Use Positive Reinforcement Examples
Positive reinforcement examples are simple yet profound. Your onboarding process should integrate your new hires deeply into the company culture. You should develop good relationships with your hires, talking to them about their interests and personalizing your feedback.
Your hires should support you as well. They should give you advice, which can make them feel like true team players. To encourage their productivity, you should give them benefits, including generous retirement packages.
Let these examples be the tip of the iceberg. Find more strategies to improve your workplace by reading our informative workplace guides.
