Many leaders know that gratitude, in general, is a good thing. It’s a great concept.
However, like other great concepts, while the idea itself sounds nice, the actual practice of it often doesn’t happen like it should.
In fact, according to Gallup, only 1 in 3 workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they “received recognition or praise for doing good work in the past seven days,” and a survey by Wakefield Research found similar results (67% saying they don’t always feel appreciated at work).
Too many employees go through their days and weeks feeling like their work and efforts are ignored—and that can have drastic consequences.
On the flip side, when you show frequent appreciation to your employees, there are many benefits, hidden ROIs (return on investments), some you may not realize, that can benefit you and your organization drastically.
Let’s look at a few.
Appreciation lowers turnover and increases loyalty
Gallup found that when employees do not receive appreciation for their work, they are 2x as likely to leave the next year.
It makes sense—who wants to work in a job where their work is unappreciated and what they do goes unnoticed?
Another study by Gallup found that employees who were recognized were 45% less likely to change organizations two years later.
In other words, when you don’t show appreciation, employees feel unappreciated (makes sense). When they feel unappreciated and unnoticed, it makes them where they don’t want to work at that organization anymore.
On the other hand, when you show appreciation, it builds loyalty, people feel appreciated and recognized, and they are more likely to stay with the organization.
Showing appreciation increases employee retention.
Appreciation improves employee engagement, productivity, and morale
Too many it may seem obvious—when you feel unappreciated and like no one notices what you do, that hurts morale. When you feel no one cares about or recognizes you, you aren’t going to be highly engaged.
When employees feel appreciated and feel recognized for what they do, that builds their pride in what they do and helps increase their engagement. They are more likely to work harder because their work is noticed.
Gallup mentions part of this as well.
And, as mentioned above, when employees feel engaged and have higher morale, they are more likely to stay at the company (see above).
Appreciation builds good-will toward you as the leader/manager
Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton in their book Leading with Gratitude, when discussing a study by Florida State University, said that “one of the top reasons employees gave for resenting their managers was that they ‘failed to give credit where credit was due.’”
That with the whole “my boss doesn’t notice any of the good stuff I do” thought-process hurts you as a leader when you don’t take the time to recognize your employees or team members and show appreciation for what they do.
On the flip side, when you show appreciation and recognition, when you point out the good they do and are genuine about your praise, that builds good-will and loyalty to you.
They will respect you more, listen to you more, and you will be able to accomplish more as the leader.
Appreciation encourages the behaviors you want
When you show appreciation for a specific behavior, it encourages not only that person to continue that behavior, but it encourages others to do the same.
This reminds me a of a story Captain Michael Abrashoff (a former Navy captain) told in one of his books. I don’t remember every detail, but Abrashoff wanted to encourage his men in regard to an aspect of their uniform.
Instead of berating those who didn’t wear it right, in one of the meetings, he praised those who were wearing it correctly.
Next time, the others started wearing it correctly. All he did was praise the behaviors he wanted.
If you want people to share mistakes or problems, if you want them to do a report a certain way, or whatever it is, praise and show appreciation to them or others when they do so, and it will encourage that behavior to continue and increase.
As Gostic and Elton said, “Rewarded behaviors get repeated.”
“Beyond communicating appreciation and providing motivation to the recognized employee, the act of recognition also sends messages to other employees about what success looks like. In this way, recognition is both a tool for personal reward and an opportunity to reinforce the desired culture of the organization to other employees.”
Appreciation gives you greater results as a leader
This makes sense when you look at everything above: higher retention; greater productivity, engagement, and morale; and the encouragement of the behaviors you want.
However, I think it’s worth pointing out what Gostic and Elton said in their book Leading with Gratitude from their studies:
“The bottom line: There are very few high-performance leaders we’ve studied – who maintained outstanding results year over year – whose teams didn’t have higher than average rating is in recognition/appreciation/gratitude.”
Gratitude also benefits you as a person
Besides the benefits to your employees and organization, it also benefits you personally (which then can benefit you professionally, too).
Here is a bullet list of the benefits of gratitude quoted from an article by Dr. Robert Emmons, who has done a lot of research on gratitude:
Physical
- Stronger immune systems
- Less bothered by aches and pains
- Lower blood pressure
- Exercise more and take better care of their health
- Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking
Psychological
- Higher levels of positive emotions
- More alert, alive, and awake
- More joy and pleasure
- More optimism and happiness
Social
- More helpful, generous, and compassionate
- More forgiving
- More outgoing
- Feel less lonely and isolated.
It can also “lead to an improved sense of well-being, higher self-esteem, less depression and anxiety and better sleep. (source)
How’s your appreciation?
I hope you can see that showing gratitude and appreciation to your employees has tremendous benefits, not only to your employees and organization, but the practice of gratitude benefits you personally, too.
Don’t let appreciation be just a concept that sounds nice‑make sure to put it into practice.
How do you show appreciation well? Here are a couple tips:
Makes sure it’s genuine
It has to be real–you have to mean it. If you fake it, people will know.
If you don’t feel appreciation, start taking time to growing it personally in yourself (with a gratitude journal, listing out what you are thankful for about your employees, etc —look at some other ideas here).
Be specific
Be specific about what you are showing appreciation for. Just saying “great job everyone” doesn’t really mean much, and you can seem out of touch.
Point out specifically what you are thanking the person for.
“I appreciate you always being early and prepared for our meetings.”
Give the benefits or impact of the action
If possible and it makes sense, share the impact of what they did–how it benefited the team, the organization, the project, or even you.
“I appreciate you always being early and prepared for our meetings. It makes them much faster and more efficient because of this.”
Be timely
Make sure you do it soon after the behavior you are mentioning. If you wait for days to thank someone, they may have forgotten, it doesn’t mean as much, and it hurts the reinforcement of that behavior.
Try to do it soon after the behavior or action is exhibited.
Don’t’ just focus on the end result, focus on the process
Sometimes leaders try to wait for the entire project or task to be done. The problem is, if it’s a long project, that’s a long time without any appreciation.
Find activities in the process to show appreciation for. Find the behaviors that you want to reinforce and encourage to continue.
Don’t just wait till the end.
Gostick and Elton said:
“One of the most distinctive attributes we’ve seen in great executives… is that they notice and express appreciation for small-scale efforts as much as they celebrate major achievements. They look for incremental wins every day that they can acknowledge.”
Try to show appreciation at least once a week
There’s not really a magic number, but showing appreciation to your employees at least once a week is often recommended.
Make it a habit
Make it habit—make it part of what you do. If you need to, schedule time to think about what you can show appreciation for and to actually do it.
Individualize it
I’ll mention a few other methods below, but try if you can to tailor your appreciation to the person—not just in the message, but the how.
Some may prefer a private thank you—others may love a public one (while others may hate it).
Don’t fret over it if it keeps you from showing it (it’s better to show it “wrong” than not at all, I would think), but if you can individualize it, do so.
Other powerful methods
Often, we think of a verbal thank you for gratitude. But it can also be in the form of public praise, some kind of tangible reward, or even a handwritten note (super powerful).
Just do it
However you decide to do it, just make sure you do. Make it a habit, and then come back and let me know the results and how it’s going. And, if you have any questions about it, please let me know as well.
Best!
insightful
Thanks!