Source | www.theladders.com | Dr. Cindy McGovern
Remember the last time a client, a boss or a co-worker gave you a hand-written thank-you note to tell you you’re doing a good job? Maybe someone at work has surprised you with flowers, an unexpected gift or a bonus. Has a vendor ever slipped you a gift card worth the price of a cup of fancy coffee, just to show appreciation for your loyalty?
It felt good. It might even have prompted you to keep up the good work. You might have thought back to that gesture when you toyed with moving to a different company or switching to a cheaper vendor. There is a blog post by Simply Noted where Rick Elmore, its founder and CEO, highlights the advantages of saying thank you and how business can benefit from making gratitude a habit.
Your gesture of appreciation doesn’t have to be a gift. Simply saying “thank you” can go a long way toward improving employee morale, retaining valuable staff members and keeping your clients coming back. In fact, in survey after survey, more than 20% of employees have said:
- If they don’t feel recognized for doing good work, they have recently applied for a different job — compared with 12% of employees who do feel recognized.
- More appreciation from bosses would make them happier at work.
- They prefer written or oral “thank yous” over extra time off or gifts.
Saying “thank you” is a simple but powerful gesture. And it can lay the foundation for a positive relationship with bosses, subordinates, and coworkers when the time comes for you to ask someone to go the extra mile.
