I was talking to someone recently about being appreciated at his job.  We agreed that when you receive appreciation for your work, it inspires you to not only do your best, but go beyond.  What happens when you don’t get any appreciation?

Lots of people today in the work force feel unappreciated.  They are working hard and think they are doing a good job.  But many times words of appreciation for a good job are few and far between.

Smart managers and leaders know and understand the value of praise and recognition.  They know showing someone that their efforts are appreciated and valued goes a long way in increasing productivity.  Those receiving recognition are much more apt to increase their performance because they feel appreciated.

But sadly, appreciation in the work place today is not prevalent.  This is evidenced more drastically in our downturn economy because so many people are looking for jobs. Management knows that if an employee doesn’t work out, there are plenty of other people they can hire to take their place.

Many people in management have the attitude that their employees should be thankful for having a job.  If they are doing a good job, they get paid for it and don’t need any praise or recognition for doing what they were hired to do.  However, they fail to recognize that recognition inspires and motivates and results in a person wanting to do a better job.

So what do you do when you are doing your best but getting no praise or recognition which makes you feel unappreciated?  In the conversation I mentioned earlier, I told this person that he needs to do his work as if he was receiving praise and recognition.  There’s a really important reason why.

Far too many people who feel unappreciated have decided to just do their job. They just do enough to get by and then clock out.  They say to themselves, “My boss doesn’t really care about me, so I don’t really care about this job. Just give me my paycheck.”  However, they fail to realize that in doing that, they themselves are the real losers.

No matter who you work for, your skills and abilities are what you have to offer; that’s what you bring to the table wherever you work.  Why would you not want to continue to improve your skills and abilities?  Doing that gives you more value and worth, more to offer.

I asked this particular person how he would go to work on Monday if he had been told that his supervisor thought he was doing a great job and that they were so glad to have him working there. What if they had said that they wished they could pay him more, and hopefully in the future they would?

He said he would be so inspired, and feel so appreciated, that he would do better than his best.  He would look for ways to excel and improve his skills.  Doing that would certainly benefit his company, but it would also benefit him individually as he continued to improve his own skills and abilities.

I went on to tell him that he could not allow any apparent lack of appreciation to lower his standards of excellence.  I told him to do whatever he could to inspire himself and continue to grow and improve his abilities.  Maybe all his hard work would not necessarily be rewarded today, but it would be in the future.

How about you?  Do you feel unappreciated?  Do not allow lack of appreciation to lower your standards.  Do whatever it takes to inspire yourself and improve your talents and skills.  That will benefit you the rest of your life, and, it will also keep you in control of your own life instead of being controlled by others. You should appreciate you.

Mike Verdicchio
2012

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