Everyone, within themselves, cultivates the desire to be appreciated and feel useful, a need also included among the fundamental needs of the human being listed in the note: the need for appreciation is a concrete need for each individual. Immersed in a professional context, every day we look for favorable results from peers or superiors, to give meaning to our efforts and celebrate successes. Being valued in the work environment is a desire that resides in every person who goes to the office every morning.
Often, however, positive reinforcement never seems to come: the boss, colleagues, the team seem not to notice our good performances, making us feel frustrated. Unfortunately, professional dissatisfaction and lack of consideration for work also greatly influence love and family relationships and everything related to the personal and private environment. With this Psychology-Online article we will see together what to do when they don’t value your work.
How to know if your boss values you
Knowing the opinion that the boss has of us is very important to increase confidence and self-esteem, to obtain more satisfaction, to better manage the tasks received and to study professional growth strategies more carefully. Trying to understand whether or not the boss appreciates our work is very important not only for our career and professional life, but also for achieving greater serenity and psychophysical balance. You think that you are not taken into account in your work, but how do you know if your boss values you or not? There are some attitudes that can serve as clues to understand it:
- Take into account your judgment. If he asks your opinion, it is probably because he considers you competent and values you especially.
- Looks you in the eyes. If when you speak the boss is not distracted and looks at you, it means that he is paying attention to what you say.
- It makes you responsible. If your boss tries to make you autonomous and often puts you in front of new things to do and tasks to face, do not take it as an affront: he trusts you, esteems you and believes that you can grow.
- Chat with you. If your boss lets himself get carried away with confidences or chats with you, it means that he respects and trusts you.
- It confronts you with challenges. If your boss gives you difficult tasks, he is probably not doing it to overwhelm you but to see how far you can grow and how many skills you have.
- He doesn’t give you compliments. It is not always a bad sign: if your boss congratulates you privately and not in front of everyone, it is a good sign.
- When he has to talk to you, he does it in person. If your boss has something to tell you and doesn’t call you, but he lets you go directly to his office, that’s a good sign.
How to tell your boss that you don’t feel valued
We frequently talk about enlightened and empathetic leaders, but reality does not always meet expectations: the boss or manager often does not pay attention to human emotions, neglecting the need for esteem and appreciation perceived by employees. It is not always a desired attitude: the numerous commitments and pressures from above to which he is subjected can quickly make him forget the good work you have done for the company. What to do when your boss ignores you? What to do when your boss doesn’t value your work or doesn’t trust you?
Refresh the boss’s memory: to get the compliments due to you, remind him how many excellent achievements you have achieved. Set a time for confrontation and dialogue with him, showing up prepared and organized, perhaps with a list of the latest hits. Define the objective of the meeting, for example, a review of the last semester in which you review your work and get advice on how to improve.
Given the recent positive results, the boss will be able to have a clear image of your talent and become fully aware of the good work you are doing for the company.
What to do when you don’t feel valued at work
What can you do when they don’t appreciate your work and don’t value you? Next we will see how to act when faced with a boss who does not value you or colleagues who do not recognize you.
- Enter the work group while maintaining your personality. Being oneself has an enormous advantage, since it avoids wasting energy and memory to make visible something about yourself that does not belong to you. To be more comfortable with yourself and not pretend, we recommend the following information about .
- Accept and understand the limits of those who work with you. Each person is made in their own way, with different abilities and ways of thinking: trying to understand and accept them, overlooking some misunderstandings, will give the sensation of being a balanced and serene person.
- Stick to the schedule. The value and respect you give when arriving and leaving is observed by those around you in the workplace.
- Learn to be productive and less busy. Focus on achieving results, as these are the things that are needed in the workplace and valued immediately.
- Share knowledge and provide your opinion. Updating who works with you about the aspects of your work, your results, the ideas for improvement that you think are useful for everyone, is a way to give importance to who is by your side every day and to discreetly value your role.
- Learn the personal tastes and priorities of those who work with you. Learning to respect what is important to each of them, observing what gives pleasure to each person, helps you better understand who spends a lot of time with you and to be valued in turn.
- Apologize when necessary. There is nothing better than being in front of someone who makes you understand that they understand what happened and that they sincerely regret having participated in this event.
- Bring “small attentions” to the office. Soften the life of those who work in the company with gestures of attention towards them.
- Help whoever needs it. Making a gesture of support towards someone who needs moral or practical support shows your sensitivity towards altruism, an essential skill to be able to belong to a group of people.
- Specialize in a competition. Build a task in which you excel or specialize in a work process in which you make a difference and in which you can be noticed.
- Be nice at the office. Bringing good humor or serenity to the places you frequent will make them seek you out.
- Avoid gossiping about others. A person who wants to work avoids talking about trivial, inopportune and inappropriate things regarding co-workers.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
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