You don’t feel appreciated? But we had a pizza party….

Employee appreciation is a cornerstone of a thriving workplace culture. Just go on LinkedIn to see the endless feel-good posts about positive work culture, employee appreciation, and engagement.  However, based on my experience, many employees feel a disconnect between what their leaders say and their actions.  When an organization receives survey data that their employees are not feeling appreciated, management often decides they need to create “more connection," "recognition events" or "connect employees to their WHY." 

In my opinion, more likely reasons for the lack of employee engagement are related to how employees are being managed and factors such as workload, lack of resources, loss of control of their own work, being subjected to micromanagement, or an expectation of perfection.     

Don't get me wrong, there is a place for connection and formal recognition programs but I do not believe those things alone positively impact employee engagement or increase feelings of appreciation.  I would argue that in some cases these types of initiatives have the opposite effect and can further negatively impact morale.  This is primarily due to the fact that management most often immediately engages in surface-level solutions like pizza parties, regular lunches, or other community-oriented events, which do not fundamentally change their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings that ultimately led to the actions that resulted in employees feeling disengaged and not appreciated in the first place.  Instead, they add more commitments and meetings, compounding the already overwhelming workload.  

Based on my experience, influencing culture is not about what we “do” as managers, it’s about what we think, believe, and feel that impacts the actions we take and the way in which we carry them out. When there is a discrepancy between the action taken and words spoken and the underlying beliefs and feelings someone has, the insincerity cannot be covered up by the delicious smell of a well-done pepperoni pizza.   

While pizza parties and social events have their place in the workplace, I do not believe they alone can solve the issue of employees not feeling appreciated. I believe to create a culture where employees genuinely feel valued and supported, leaders must go beyond superficial gestures. In my experience, this is done by creating new thoughts, beliefs, and emotions about employees to foster a genuine environment where appreciation becomes an integral part of the organizational identity.  

Coaching is about aligning one’s thoughts, beliefs, and emotions with action. Coaching creates an opportunity for a deeper level of awareness and helps to identify where misalignment exists so that it can be addressed in a way that best serves the client.  If you are curious about coaching and learning more, please contact me at info@sarahschillerstrom.com  

I help local governments improve employee performance through personalized coaching, addressing the challenge of limited time and resources for routine employee development.