Hard-working employees often goes unappreciated by management. According to The Wall Street Journal, a way for managers to correct this is by simply thanking your employees.
A Change in Corporate Culture
But, aren’t employees just doing their job? Why would a boss need to thank their employees for tasks they payed them to do?
These questions understate the value of employees and create a large barrier between employees and managers. By doing so, employees are left feeling undervalued. A Monster.com poll, in this article, found that 90% of American workers occasionally feel unappreciated on the job and 50% never feel appreciated.
Instead, managers should thank their employees on any given day. The sense of feeling appreciated in the workplace, described in this article, can lead to greater happiness as well as better financial decision making and problem solving. Happiness and productivity in the workplace have also been found to be correlated, according to this study. In general, being appreciated can increase personal morale and lead to better mood, sleep, and alertness.
By expressing appreciation to employees, managers can change the culture of their business. This new corporate culture will help develop and retain productive employees by offering a welcoming atmosphere where hard work is recognized by management.
Create a Better Workplace
If you’re in a leadership role, then become an effective leader by saying thank you to your employees. Whether it be for a near meaningless task or a big project, make your employees feel appreciated and they will return the favor.
A simple thank you can transform workplace culture into a communicative environment built on productivity and success. With the linkage between happiness and productivity defined, why would a manager restrain from saying thank you every once in a while? The only result is a better workplace environment.
Saying “thank you” is not a difficult thing to do. especially when employees have done something you asked of them. I believe great leaders understand that through thanking someone, they are improving their interpersonal relationship with that person and contributing to their overall workplace satisfaction. Its the verbal equivalent of a “pat on the back” and goes a long way by showing that the individual’s work is valued. This makes the individual feel as though he or she is a part of the group/ company and drives higher performance. I believe thanking employees improves their confidence, reinforces communication between the parties, and reduces costs to the company. Such costs can come from employee absence or stress or wasted time on the job.
I really liked this post. I believe that in order to be successful, employees and the employers need to respect each other. It sounds simple but it can go a long way. This relates to personal relationships as well. I just read an article about couples saying thank you to each other. It improves their relationship and makes the individuals feel appreciated even for the small stuff.
On the business side, I have learned from my father to always thank your employees for the work they do, if it was not for them then the business would not be running.
I believe that showing appreciation in the workplace would make a great difference, not only by creating a happier working environment but also improving employee retention. Reducing employee turnover can minimize the cost of training new employees which leads to generating a greater profit. I remember having a manager who often expressed her gratitude to us when we performed our jobs. Although we only worked to meet the basic standard, a simple thank you from the manager made us feel motivated and helped us want to exceed expectations. Here is another article that talks about building appreciation culture in organizations. http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090901/building-a-culture-of-employee-appreciation.html