How Can We Encourage Line Managers to Truly Appreciate Their Junior Team Members?

Dear All,

In my organization, we have a high retention rate of younger employees who join as junior executives or assistants to line managers. It seems that most of them don't feel appreciated by their managers for their work.

Please suggest what can be done so that the line managers start recognizing their subordinates and appreciating them.

Looking forward to your valuable suggestions.

Thanks & Regards,
Supriya

Comments on Employee Retention and Appreciation

a) Do you have high "retention" or "attrition" rates of younger employees? If it's the former, then what is the problem?

b) Is the work of the managers appreciated so that they also start appreciating the work of their juniors?

c) In your company, are the systems and processes well-defined? If yes, then are the performance measures designed based on this study? Attainment of measures is recognition in itself, whether one explicitly recognizes work or not.

d) Are the managers trained in "managerial competencies"? Is it a case that managers have acquired their designation because of the length of their service but do not know what managerial competencies are, and have not cared to know?

e) Are managers instructed to be role models for their subordinates? If yes, then who is their role model?

f) Have you conducted any organizational surveys like an "Employee Satisfaction Survey" (ESS)? Is there a culture of recognition in the company?

g) Does the leadership set unattainable targets? Do juniors have a sinking feeling that no amount of work is going to satisfy their superiors?

The problem that you have described is not new to me. It happens in several places. Against this backdrop, I have designed a 2-day Training Programme on "[Leadership and Motivation](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwFZpLigNaA5X2lNdFdTYnlJcFE/view?usp=sharing)". You may conduct training for your managers and expect a change. Click on the hyperlink to know the details of the training programme. This is a proven training programme. We will measure the change before and after the training.

All the best!

Regards,
Dinesh Divekar

Dear Dinesh Sir,

Thank you for replying to my query. We have an issue with attrition. All your questions have prompted me to think and make the necessary changes.

Thank you very much.

Regards,
Supriya

Dear Supriya, if attrition of the junior employees is a problem, then it could be because of recruitment as well. Anyway, for now, you may conduct a department-wise analysis to determine from which department the maximum number of juniors are leaving and why they are leaving. The department with the highest attrition rate should have the Head of Department (HOD) receive counseling.

If you wish to analyze attrition on a broader scale, please refer to my previous reply. The link is provided below: https://www.citehr.com/519562-employ...ml#post2211229

All the best!

Regards,
Dinesh Divekar

Understanding the Challenges of Appreciation

Appreciation must generally be spontaneous and genuinely expressed. However, due to a number of factors, seniors grudgingly appreciate the juniors. It is important to understand the factors that limit seniors from freely appreciating their subordinates, for therein lies the clue to how the problem can be tackled.

Reasons for Lack of Spontaneous Appreciation

• A feeling that subordinates are supposed to give their best and no appreciation is needed, but if they fail to give their best, they need to be reprimanded.

• A subconscious fear that any appreciation would go to the head of the junior, and he/she would then feel that they are indispensable.

• A cultural problem where the superiors have a view that appreciation is to be understood unless a person is reprimanded.

Against this backdrop, it may require some intervention on the part of management to subtly get line managers to convey their appreciation of their subordinates.

Strategies to Encourage Appreciation

- Have Mondays as appreciation day where every line manager has to nominate a team member for appreciation by the team (based on the previous week's performance). The same team member can be nominated only twice in a month.

- Every quarter ending, nominate the name of one team member from all those who have won the weekly appreciation award as the performer of the quarter and also give the name of one or two others who contributed significantly.

- Have leadership training for managers in which, among other inputs, significant input is given on the importance of appreciation and how to be objective in giving appreciation.

- Also, draw attention to the fact that appreciation need not be formal as enumerated in the first two suggestions above. Appreciation can be conveyed spontaneously and informally too, by way of an appreciative word to a subordinate or a word of praise in the work bay so that other team members are also made aware of the specific contribution worth emulating by others.

Trust the above suggestions can be tweaked to meet the specific requirements at your workplace.

Regards

Dear Supriya,

If your managers are unappreciative even for the good work of their subordinates, they don't know their job properly and are unable to distinguish between good or bad work/performance of their subordinates. In that case, their own performance needs to be closely scrutinized. However, if they are unappreciative by nature for good work, they are badly in need of repeated behavioral training from time to time to motivate them to change their attitudes.

In my organization, we have high retention of younger employees who join as junior executives, assistants to line managers. It seems that most of them don't feel appreciated by their managers for their job/work. Please suggest what can be done so that the line managers start recognizing their subordinates and appreciate them.

Looking forward to your valuable suggestions.

Thanks & Regards,
Supriya

Dear Supriya,

I personally believe they can write at least one appreciation letter or email to their junior. Even a mail works wonders.

Regards, Rohini Gupta

Basic human courtesy is to appreciate good work done by others. If managers fail in this basic elementary step, then they really deserve behavioral coaching.

Very good discussion, thoughts, and contributions by delighted members.

In one of the Sanskrit Subhashit, it is said: "Even creatures and animals crave good words and appreciation. Hence, always speak good words. There should not be a delay in objective appreciation, which should be natural."

Appreciation and Criticism

Therefore, in Bangalore, in many places, I conducted deliberations on "Appreciation and Criticism" - how to give and receive. The sessions were well-received, and many experienced success after attending.

Regards,
Ram K Navaratna
HR Resonance
Website: hrresonance.com

In addition to what the seniors said above, I would like to say that the line managers, to whom the juniors are entrusted, have the responsibility of grooming and inducting them into their roles. This means shaping their attitude and improving their competencies by keeping the channels of communication open for regular feedback. However, the fact that most of the junior members feel that they are not appreciated by the line managers raises doubts about the competencies of the line managers themselves or even suggests something sinister about the problem, such as the value system of the line managers, etc. You need to sort out the problem at the level of line managers, and it may solve the problem of attrition of juniors.

Regards,
B. Saikumar

Immediate Recognition for Employee Contributions

I suggest that those who will be in charge of a line, section, or department give immediate recognition to employees for the good work they have done (such as innovation of processes, speed of work, accuracy, or neatness), preferably in the presence of other employees. It is the immediate, on-the-spot appreciation that is truly beneficial.

Simultaneously, if an employee has a doubt or issue with a process and raises it to their manager or supervisor, and the latter acknowledges it as a valid point and makes amendments, it should be openly admitted (again in the presence of other employees). Such acknowledgments significantly contribute to employee satisfaction.

Regards,
A. S. Bhat