A ‘Culture of Appreciation’ is a work environment where appreciation and acknowledgement is normal behavior, almost like a habit for supervisors and employees, without additional impetus from the HR or the management. You can also refer to it as the ‘Attitude of Gratitude’. It can foster business growth and creativity by boosting the morale and confidence of the employees.

Here are a few best practices for building such a culture of appreciation in any organization:

1. Involve the Leaders

The best way to start building a culture of appreciation in an organization is to encourage the leadership team to practice and preach. The leaders should make it a point to use every possible interaction with the employees to appreciate and acknowledge their achievements. In fact, floor meetings, team huddles, townhalls, Zoom calls, etc. are all great forums to practice and demonstrate the art of appreciation.


2. Digitize the Process

The organization can make it simple and convenient for managers to appreciate their team members and peers to appreciate each other by leveraging a digital employee recognition platform. Hence, the organization can implement Spot Awards and Peer-to-Peer Recognition on their employee recognition system. Such systems make it easy for employees to appreciate one another digitally, no matter where they are operating from.


3. Maximize Social Visibility

Leveraging internal platforms such as MS Teams, Slack and the company intranet to showcase the appreciation/ recognition received by employees are good ways to create social social visibility around the practice of appreciation. In fact, it can create a positive feeling for the winners and encourage others to appreciate their team members, creating a sort of virtuous circle. Sharing the recognition on public social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn can create additional visibility.


4. Add Personal Touch

While using digital platforms to appreciate employees make it more convenient, it can also make the process more impersonal. Hence, organizations should encourages supervisors and managers to appreciate and recognize employees personally, whenever possible. This can also happen over a voice or video call, or even a video message. A well-written and personalized thank you note can also add to the personal touch.


5. Link Appreciation to KRAs

Making appreciation and recognition of team members a part of the performance evaluation criteria of managers and leaders can also encourage them to make it a regular practice. In fact, peer appreciation can be one of the positive behavioral traits expected from all employees. Making it a part of the KRAs will encourage employees to practice it regularly, eventually making it a habit.