Being valued – perspective from the person on the bottom

“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” —Anne M. Mulcahy

Who doesn’t like to feel valued, whether as a friend, a family member or as an employee?

I joined the company as a fresh graduate with little to no experience. A constant battle I have with myself is to find my worth within the company. Who am I to make suggestions? What can I offer to the company that no other can?

From speaking to other managers and upper level management in the company, I found some common problems they have is also how to keep their staff motivated and how to help them grow and use their potential to the fullest.

I can’t speak on behalf of every new starter or fresh graduate, but I have spoken to my peers on what keeps them motivated and what makes them feel valued. Here are just some of the points I have gathered:

Feeling Appreciated

Whether it is a big task or small task, we like being appreciated for what we do. The appreciation could be from a task we have completed, a new idea, suggestions (good or bad) or simply our hard work and attitude in learning new tasks.

Mentored

Just like you would expect from a fresh graduate, we have very limited experience. It is important to mentor us and help us grow. Communicate, sit and spend some time with us and provide feedback on our work and most importantly, work WITH US on achieving our goals.

Make them be involved

Although you may feel like it’s a small task or quick meeting, but as a newcomer, it is an eye-opener to be exposed to all aspects of the business and taking on tasks and responsibilities on the way. From the meetings, not only will graduates learn how the business is run, we will also learn how to deal with certain problems.

Trust them

It might feel as if you’re gambling with this one, but you need to trust your staff can be allocated the work and be able to complete it. Feel free to check up on us to make sure we are on the right track but make sure there is a fine line between assisting and micro-managing. Instead of providing us with feedback after every call we make, perhaps do a quick catch up session at the end of the day (and progressively at the end of the week/month) to see how we can improve our pitch.

Be genuine

Although new graduates may be new to the job, but we can certainly tell what is genuine and authentic. Be honest, be true and be human. When we feel the managers are genuine or real people, we can be more open in expressing ourselves.

All these values help us gain confidence and make us feel good that we seem to be contributing in a positive way. It will also help bring our best attitude to the role, become more productive and try to learn more and achieve higher. 

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable pets; a cat and a dog.