One more thing you should never do as a manager — or in any capacity for that matter.
Never make an employee feel irrelevant.
Why Relevance Matters
Every person who shows up to work wants to feel that what they do matters. They want to know that their contribution is seen, valued, and connected to something larger than just the task in front of them.
When you make someone feel irrelevant — whether intentionally or not — you don't just damage their morale. You damage their performance, their loyalty, and their willingness to go above and beyond.
How It Happens
Making someone feel irrelevant doesn't always look like what you'd expect. It's not always a dramatic confrontation or a public dressing-down. More often, it's subtle:
- Ignoring their input in a meeting
- Assigning them work that's clearly beneath their capabilities without explanation
- Failing to acknowledge when they do something well
- Making decisions that affect them without including them in the conversation
- Treating their concerns as unimportant or inconvenient
Each of these, on its own, might seem minor. But they accumulate. And when they accumulate, you end up with an employee who has mentally checked out — even if they're still physically showing up.
The Fix Is Simpler Than You Think
You don't need a formal program or a new initiative to make people feel relevant. You need to pay attention.
Notice what people do well and say so. Ask for their input and actually listen to it. Explain the "why" behind decisions that affect them. Treat their time and their work as if it matters — because it does.
People who feel relevant work harder, stay longer, and care more. That's not a soft outcome. That's a business result.