When you’re showing up as your best self at work, putting in the hours and still feeling like you’re not valued, it can be demoralising.

You get frustrated. Self-doubt rears its ugly head. And you start to wonder what you’re doing wrong.

You’ve got three options when it feels like you’re not valued at work

Option 1: Quietly quit

The quiet quitting “trend” took over the headlines in 2022 thanks to a TikTok that went viral. The term describes a state of work where you’re still going to work and performing your tasks but you’re no longer going above and beyond.

Instead, you’re doing the bare minimum to get by. Whilst keeping your job and your pay cheque.

It won’t come as a surprise to you that this isn’t an approach I’d recommend! It’s far more productive to take action (as we’ll explore in this piece) but the option is still there.

Option 2: Really quit

There comes a point when you’ve tried everything and nothing’s changed. You’re still not valued at work, you’re still coming home frustrated and you’re out of options.

That’s when you feel like quitting. And, sometimes, this is the right option. It’s time to look for jobs elsewhere.

Option 3: Show your value

Before you try any of the options above, give this one a go first. When you’re not valued at work, you need to show your value.

Because that value is there. It’s just not being seen or recognised. And it’s up to us to make it so obvious it can’t be missed.

This is why it feels like you’re not valued at work

It’s highly possible that your value is noticed and appreciated at work but you’re unable to see it. The feedback isn’t there and it’s leaving you with the same feeling you’d experience if you weren’t valued at all.

This might be why:

• Your work isn’t recognised by your boss
• You don’t feel heard or seen by your colleagues or managers
• You’re not given feedback when you ask for it
• Your manager doesn’t seem to have the time to speak to you about your ideas
• You’re not given support when you ask for it
• Your ideas aren’t actioned on
• You’re left out of new initiatives
• You haven’t received a pay rise or promotion

The long-term impact of not being valued at work

What might start as low-key frustration can soon escalate into a more severe problem.

The feeling of not being valued at work can drastically impact your self-esteem. You start to question your abilities. You wonder how important you are to the company.

Slowly, you start to feel less motivated. You can even start to become smaller and less vocal in the workplace, taking a step back as your confidence reduces.

7 actions to take when you’re not valued at work

1. Work on your confidence

Before you can start showing your value at work, you need to have the confidence to back yourself up. You need to believe in yourself.

Is there a specific area of your work where you’re not feeling valued? Try to tackle this first. Use confidence-building visualisation techniques to visualise yourself completing that task well.

Paint this picture in your mind over and over again until the time comes. Then, bring that visualisation to life.

2. Improve your communication skills to highlight your value

How can you make your value clear? You communicate it.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of the person you want to appreciate your value at work. What are their goals? What are their fears? What are they struggling with?

This practice is called perceptual positioning. It’ll enable you to decipher what they need to see and hear from you in order to connect with your impact, as you’re relating it to their wants, needs, and goals.

You can then use those realisations to verbalise your value by highlighting the areas of your work that are most relevant to them.

3. Speak up and ask for feedback

If you’re not feeling valued at work, tell your employers that. You can approach HR or raise the matter in your next employee review.

Whilst you’re discussing your performance, explain that you don’t feel as though your work is valued. It’s important to stay calm and express your experience as your personal feelings, rather than assigning blame before you’ve even begun.

Create the space for your employer to feedback to you on why this might be and ask them if there’s anything you can do to increase your impact and add more value to the company.

4. Look for projects or opportunities that’ll bring your work into the spotlight

It’s time to bring your work into the spotlight.

If most of your work takes place within your immediate team, the rest of the organisation isn’t going to see or experience your impact. Keep an eye out for projects or opportunities that’ll bring your work into a more public domain.

These will give you the chance to receive real-time feedback whilst demonstrating your value to the wider organisation.

5. Celebrate yourself

You don’t just need your company to celebrate your value, you need to celebrate your value too.

You might gloss over this tip as a cheesy trick but it’s actually one of the best ways to improve your confidence. Each time you celebrate yourself, you’re recognising your own value. And it becomes a little bit easier to demonstrate it to everyone else.

6. Draw the dots between your value and the company impact

Sometimes, we just need to make it really obvious to people.

This is especially true when you’re trying to show your value to people you don’t work with every day. It may be that your job is just too technical or specific for them to understand its impact on the business.

If that’s the case, keep your own records of your milestones and achievements inside your work diary. Then, make it obvious to them. Connect your work and your impact to the impact on the wider business.

7. Change the company culture

Are you the only person who feels like they’re not valued at work? Or are your colleagues feeling it too?

If so, it’s time for your company culture to make a change. And you can be the first to do it.

Start praising your colleagues. Ask your team members how they prefer to receive praise e.g. verbal, written, in front of the team, in private, or via another method. And speak to your HR about how you can foster an environment that encourages regular feedback.