Nobody relishes feeling undervalued at work. Even if you’re not passionate about what you do for a living, it stands to reason that you put a fair amount of time and effort into it. Needless to say, having your hard work go unrecognized and unappreciated by your employer can put a tremendous damper on your work experience and turn each new workday into an arduous slog. Fortunately, getting the recognition you deserve from your bosses and coworkers isn’t quite as daunting as you may think.
Make Meaningful Contributions to Group Projects
Some of us work better by ourselves than in groups. For people like us, group projects were a source of great anxiety in school and continue to frustrate as members of the workforce. Furthermore, not being keen on group projects doesn’t mean someone is lazy or bad at their job. In many cases, a reluctance to take part in group projects stems from social anxiety, fear of being judged and performance concerns. In addition, depending on the size of the groups you typically work in, personality clashes are liable to serve as a consistent source of stress.
Again, being a noncontributor to group projects doesn’t necessarily make you a bad employee. However, reluctance to contribute is still liable to draw the ire of your team members and potentially attract negative attention from your bosses. To nip this in the bud, do your best to make meaningful contributions to any group projects in which you take part. This doesn’t have to entail assuming a leadership role, but you should make an effort to share your input at every available opportunity, help fellow team members expand on their ideas and offer praise and encouragement to those working alongside you.
Don’t Let Others Claim Credit for Your Work
It seems like every workplace has employees who constantly take credit for the work of others. In many cases, these individuals get away with such behavior because the people for whose work they claim credit are too afraid to speak up. While wanting to avoid conflict with coworkers is certainly admirable, you should never allow someone to unjustly take the credit for your individual accomplishments. So, if any of your coworkers have engaged in this behavior in the past, take care to report this to the relevant parties. There’s nothing wrong with desiring recognition for your personal efforts, and if receiving credit for your own accomplishments draws the ire of credit-stealing colleagues, so be it. Once it becomes apparent that you won’t allow others to claim credit for work you’ve done, they’re liable to stop trying.
Take Stock of Your Options
If your employer has failed to show you recognition at every conceivable opportunity, there’s a good chance they’re never going to. As sad as it may sound, some employers view workers as nothing more than expendable office drones. So, if this is a fair description of your employer, it may be a good idea to take stock of your options.
Given your education, skillset and work experience, what other companies are liable to find you attractive? Are you happy with your current career field, or would you prefer to travel down a different path entirely? At the very least, you’d do well to start perusing relevant job listings online and applying to any that strike your interest. Regardless of how stuck you feel in your current job, there’s a good chance that you have more options than you think.
Request the Adoption of an Employee Recognition Platform
Some businesses inadvertently allow worker accomplishments to fall through the cracks because of an absence of employee recognition platforms. Whether it’s peer-to-peer encouragement or formal awards, the right employee recognition platform can help prevent you and your coworkers from feeling unseen. So, if your employer has yet to adopt such a platform, request that they do so posthaste.
Few things are more disheartening than feeling consistently undervalued at work. After all, even if you’re not over the moon for your job, chances are you devote a considerable portion of your life to it and understandably expect to have your professional achievements recognized. However, you may come to discover that getting the recognition you seek doesn’t have to be an uphill battle – particularly if you have the previously discussed pointers in your corner.