A Leader’s Guide to Appreciating Your Team

At Setup, we conduct frequent Agency Assessments where we interview Client partners and Agency teams to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our Agency partners. It really helps shine a light on why our partners are so awesome, but it also gives us insight into what Clients are prioritizing in their partnerships and what helps retain a happy and effective Staff. 

When companies are struggling to recruit and retain top talent, and the world is still trying to find a “new normal” post COVID, connection with your team, on both the Agency and Client sides, is so important. 

Something we hear all too often is that Staff members crave recognition and appreciation.

A common critique of companies is that employee happiness is reflective of their relationship with their manager. So how can managers/team leadership be more supportive and show appreciation? 

We’ve collected some tips from companies who are really thriving when it comes to Culture, as well as some suggestions from Agency Staff members who long for more connection to give you the best steps on how to show your team more appreciation. 

At the end of the day, people just want to feel valued. There are more methods to do this beyond compensation. Bonuses and money are a good starting point to making your team feel valued, so please do that when you can, but, let’s be honest, most everyone thinks they should be making more, and sometimes, unfortunately, it’s not in the budget. 

How can leaders continue to value their team? 

1. Give the Staff a voice. People want to feel seen and heard. There is a reason you hired them. Give them an opportunity to show how much they care by giving them a platform to share their ideas. Genuinely respect and take their ideas into consideration, and possibly implement them. When employees have ownership over a project, they care more about it. 

2. Implement more face-to-face time between leadership and Staff. Team meetings and 1 on 1s are helpful for alignment, but Staff members also want to be sure the leadership cares about them as individuals, and understands their work and contributions. 

3. Company-wide shout outs and wins are important! Whether it is in a weekly huddle meeting, email, or All Team quarterly meeting, people want to be recognized for their hard work. External validation, especially from leadership or other respected team members, goes a long way. 

4. Regular feedback and check-ins from management on work shows that there is an investment in the progress of a project and that the energy going into the project is well used. 

5. Investment is important to team members, and if people are spending a majority of their time and energy at a place, they want to be poured back into. Show your team you care by investing in their professional development. Whether that is financing training or conferences, or giving them tasks that will help them grow in their role and prepare them for the next stage in their career path. Prioritize their goals and their growth. Your investment in them will also be an investment in the company because they will utilize their newfound strengths in their role. 

6. People want to feel trusted. That could be the trust to take on a new project or manage a person, or it could be trust to not be micromanaged and have flexible hours. The less of a grip you hold on someone, the more freedom they have to bring creativity and heart into their role. Work-life balance is a priority to most Staff members on the teams we survey, and the flexibility to have remote work helps productivity and happiness. 

7. Similar to craving trust, teams also want transparency. They will feel more valued if there is clarity in expectations and transparency from the leadership about company performance and goals. 

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At the end of the day, your team wants to be a part of the business - inclusive of all of its ups and downs. Include them by communicating clearly, trusting them with the job you hired them to do, and recognizing their efforts. People want to be treated with respect and feel seen by their leaders. By doing this, you are creating an environment that encourages growth and hard work, making it a place where people want to work and stay working for a while.

One way to invest in your team is by investing in Team Building! We offer this service to help teams become more connected with one another and confident in themselves through improv exercises. Check out the offering here!

Interested in conducting an Agency Assessment for your Agency? Check out more information here. Are you a Client-side marketer interested in assessing your Agency partners? Check out more information here. And subscribe to the newsletter below to never miss industry news, CMO interviews, free resources, and more!