Wow....god advice on Perb!
Employees who feel valued, acknowledged, respected and challenged set their own bar higher. They take pride in working harder and more efficiently, and the positive outcome is synergistic.
Even if you don't get outside recognition for raising your team to new heights, you will at the very least be part of a team which is not only more productive,
but much happier. Clients and potential new employees and employers are all drawn to that sort of environment.
Fudd: both Poeticus and Lady Companion are bang-on.
I have always advised my employees that I promoted to manager: that the transition from worker to manager requires you to find other ways to measure your accomplishments/self worth in your job. As a manager your measure becomes what your team accomplishes, rather than what you personally have done, whether it is: files closed; services delivered; projects or products completed & delivered, depending on what your team & yourself do.
I could go on ad nauseum about important things like: setting priorities, making decisions, showing how good decisions are made, helping your team and team members grow, handing out discipline when warranted, acknowledging successes, keeping your team focused, hiring good people, keeping the company BS away from the team, helping achieve productivity, and many others. It all boils down to very good communication both to your team and across the broader organization.
I've always found communication to be "tricky", the same message delivered to 2 different people can be received so differently. To some good communication comes so naturally, to me it was a constant learning effort and work in itself. Good luck with it.