"The glow on their face, the excitement in their eyes — they were helping the boss. They were learning something new. They were helping Redwood Credit Union grow," Alderman said. "It was one of the biggest eye-opening days I ever had. That's when I became hooked on this."

Alderman worked with the staffer again on the report the following month. The third time, she drafted the report and Alderman approved it. By the fourth report, Alderman only had to give the report a cursory review.

"What managers sometimes don't understand — and what I didn't understand to the full extent I do now — was when you're delegating, you're just not delegating the work, you're creating a learning opportunity," Alderman said. "Giving people the opportunity to learn and grow is just another way you can show you appreciate them."

Last fall, Redwood CU ($3.3 billion in assets, 226,538 members) was listed among 98 "Best Places to Work in the North Bay," — Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties above the San Francisco Bay. The list has been published for 11 years by the North Bay Business Journal, and Redwood CU is among only eight companies that have won each year.

In those years, Redwood has grown from a credit union with 285 employees in 2005 to one with 482 full-time and 33 part-time employees at the end of 2016.

The award's recipients are selected based on the results of anonymous employee surveys and a review by the business journal's editorial staff of worker comments and company applications.

"That doesn't happen without appreciation, engagement and motivation being an important part of the culture," Alderman said. "This is an award that cannot be faked."

Employee appreciation is the foundation for building a healthy workplace culture, said Paul White, a workplace consultant whose most recent book is "The Vibrant Workplace: Overcoming the Obstacles to Building a Culture of Appreciation," which was published earlier this year.

"If employees don't feel valued or appreciated by either their supervisors or their colleagues, not much else goes well," White said.

While 85% of companies have programs to recognize employees for exceptional performance, often companies overlook the vast middle ground of employees, and have little or no strategy for showing they are appreciated.

"You wind up recognizing the same top 15% or 20% of employees all the time," White said. "That's fine, but it misses solid workers who feel neglected. Middle performers don't get much of anything."

One survey found 79% of the people who leave work voluntarily cite not feeling appreciated as a main reason.

"Most managers think people leave for more money, but that's actually not the case," White said. "That's partially because leaving a job is a very emotionally taxing process to disengage and find a new place. It takes an emotional driver to make you leave. Money typically doesn't do that."

Conversations with employees are most effective when managers are specific, White said. That includes using the employee's name, restating what they did to warrant praise and how that helps the organization.

"One of the things people don't like to hear is 'good job.' It's too generic. It's too vague," he said. "I've heard people say, 'They wouldn't know if it's a good job or not because they don't fully understand everything I do.'"

A thank-you email can be a good start to a routine expression of appreciation. Words of affirmation are valuable to about 45% of employees. But that leaves the other 55% who are waiting for more gestures they consider more meaningful, which includes delegating tasks, White said.

Jill Weaver, director of learning and development at Wright-Patt Credit Union of Dayton, Ohio ($3.5 billion in assets, 332,205 members), has also learned the importance of delegating during a career spanning more than 25 years including stints of employee training at Harvard University and Monster.com.

Many managers resist delegating, even though it is one of the most powerful tools they have for building trust, confidence and competence among their employees, Weaver said.

"Some don't want to bother their employees. They feel it's their job," she said.

Yet when Weaver asks non-managers about what it means to them when their bosses delegate work to them, she hears comments like "they trust me," or "that gives me an opportunity to grow."

White, a psychologist by training, said managers need to look for ways to express authentic appreciation for non-performance issues.

"It's more fun to work with someone who's cheerful than grumpy," White said. "It may not make them a better performer, but it will let them know you value that they're dependable, they don't complain much, grumble and make your life miserable that way."

Managers can become so fixated on tasks at hand they become blinded to significant issues affecting their co-workers. An employee who seems tired and ineffective might have spent the night at the hospital with a sick parent, or be dealing with a vexing teenager.

"The core principle is that we're not just work units. We're people. Workplace relationships acknowledge the person," he said. "You're more likely to have less turnover, less internal conflict. There's less drama about stupid little things in the office because people know they're valued and you listen to them."

Top performers can have their own unmet appreciation needs.

"Even though they get rewarded for performance, they can also start to feel jaded because they're only valued because they're performing well, and nobody cares about them as a person."

"They'll vault to another organization where they feel they are valued for who they are," White said. "If you want to keep them and create a sense of camaraderie and loyalty, you need to get to know them as a person."

Managers find it difficult to shift their attention to following up with people to see how they're faring, said Weaver of Wright-Patt, which has nearly 800 employees.

"When you become a leader, it's about others," Weaver said. "A lot of your day truly should be space, time and presence. Know your folks. Know what's happening in their lives. Ask how they're doing."

"All these little things seem so silly, but are so important."

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