Employee Appreciation Day gives employers a chance to thank employees for everything they do. Of course, employee appreciation shouldn’t be limited to just one day; the holiday should be part of an ongoing effort made throughout the year to recognize employee contributions.
Here’s why showing employees that they’re valued is critical to a company’s success — and why you should do something special for Employee Appreciation Day this year, even if you’re a solo entrepreneur.
Retain Top Talent
People don’t want to stay at companies where they don’t feel appreciated. Show your employees how much you value them before turnover impacts your bottom line. The Center for American Progress reports that it costs companies about one-fifth of an employee’s annual salary to find a replacement. That number can rise to a staggering 213 percent when replacing highly paid jobs at senior or executive levels. (To find out how much turnover costs your company, check out this cost calculator by staffing agency Adecco.)
Why is turnover so expensive? When you lose an employee, you also lose institutional knowledge. And the work that person was handling doesn’t disappear, which means someone else will be spread more thinly to compensate, leading to a loss of productivity. Then there are the resources needed to recruit a replacement, as well as the months it can take to bring a new hire up to speed.
The good news is that employee turnover is often preventable. More than three out of four employees who quit their jobs in 2018 could have stayed on if their employers had acted, according to the 2019 Retention Report: Trends, Reasons and A Call to Action by consulting firm the Work Institute — which also predicts that more than a third of employees will leave their jobs to work elsewhere in 2023. You can help stem the tide by letting your employees know that you recognize their worth and doing something special for them this Employee Appreciation Day.
Prevent Burnout
But what if you work for yourself, or are part of a very small team? Although talent retention may not be an issue, burnout is a very real concern, and can seriously affect both your health and your productivity. Employees who say that they very often or always experience burnout are 23 percent more likely to visit the emergency room, 63 percent more likely to take a sick day, and 13 percent less confident in their performance at work, according to Gallup’s 2018 report, Employee Burnout. If you’re self-employed, you may be especially vulnerable to burnout since you don’t have colleagues to offer support in times of high stress.
So this Employee Appreciation Day, practice self-care. Give yourself some time off, even if it’s just the afternoon. Recharge by going to the movies, taking a walk, or signing up for an exercise class. Although you may be reluctant to go offline, studies show that taking even a short break can do wonders for your creativity, focus, and productivity. How you choose to spend Employee Appreciation Day is less important than the fact that you choose to celebrate the holiday — and the person (or people) your company’s success is built on.