Remember
those hopefully long forgotten days when we had bosses who thought that your
pay check was “all the thanks you need?”
We’d like to think that they are long gone but unfortunately, we often
hear that attitude is still very much present in today’s managers.
We
are in the “Thanks” business, it’s what we do, and we believe it because we
know it works. Unfortunately, there
always seem to be a manager who defends the philosophy of not thanking
employees and recognizing them for their performance on an often basis. As social beings most of us intuitively know
that thanks, praise and recognition is good for us. We can’t recall a time when an employee every
told us that they hated it when someone thanked or praised them for their
effort. They may have been embarrassed
about how it was done, but that’s a different issue. The American Psychological Association in a paper
in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed
simply that a little gratitude does go a long way and motivates increased pro-social
behavior.
In our opinion not
fostering a culture of thanks is unproductive, lacks judgment and we think it’s
unwise. It’s surely at least counterproductive
for everyone involved. Paychecks are great;
it’s why they come to work, but it’s only half the contract. It’s just paying what you owe, it’s not
showing appreciation.
Opposing managers often use
these reasons why they withhold thanks:
- No one thanks me
- Thank people and they’ll only expect more
- If you thank one you have to thank them all
- I thanked an employee one time and he said ‘put it in my paycheck, who needs that kind of guff'
- Thank people and they’ll get false confidence
- I can’t thank people who need to improve
To these managerial
types we say get over it. It isn’t about
you. If your people expect more
appreciation give it to them, they will deliver more to others and your
workplace will warm up. You don’t have
to thank them all, but once you start you will naturally just thank more and
more and it will become a habit. And
forget about the snarky ones, those are often malcontents who are looking
around the corner at the next job move.
By simply choosing your
words carefully it doesn’t mean you have to rise to the level of praising them,
and then formally recognizing them. But
it is does start that cycle, that will result in a more engaged and productive
workforce.
Thanks for taking the
time to read this post.
