Build a Culture of "Thanks"

I've been hearing more and more (you no-doubt have, too) about retaining good employees at all levels. Sure, there is plenty of downsizing. But organizations still want to hold onto the best. It costs a lot to find, hire, and get a new person up to speed.

Here are some thought-provoking statistics from an article I recalled some time ago from the UK's Management-Issues:

"Research by UK performance improvement consultants Maritz has found that almost one in five of us (19 per cent) have never been thanked for our efforts at work while more than a third only hear those two little words once or twice a year.

Perhaps not-entirely coincidentally, that's about the same proportion as another recent survey found have no loyalty towards the organisation they work for and couldn't care less about their job.

Yet at the other end of the spectrum, around a third of us do receive regular recognition and are thanked several times a week, something that (as more than eight out of 10 of those surveyed acknowledged) has a positive impact on their desire to remain with their employer."

"Thank You" & the "War for Talent"

Check out the screen shot of my " war for talent"  Google search. 504,000 results.  Books, articles,  training programs, software systems, and academic research. Conferences are being held to ponder the meaning of talent acquisition and retention.

 

Let's assume that the statistics noted in the article are a true reflection of the norm. The third who receive thanks regularly feel positive about their employer and are inclined to remain at the firm.

Easy action: Executives need to start thanking their managers regularly. Then they need to tell them to start thanking their people. Maybe we could get uppity and call it "Building a Culture of Thanks." Clearly, it would be more effective and less costly than conferences and software.

And it would make our mothers proud.

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Note: My online friend and leadership guy Ed Brenegar takes this so seriously that he has a place where you can click and experience the transformational power of gratitude: Say Thanks Every Day. 

And you can help by...contributing to Norwegian friend and manager Frode Heiman's recognition survey at Never Mind The Manager.

Comments

[Ed Brenegar]

Steve,
You are right on the money about creating a culture of thanks.
A culture is a set of ideas, behaviors and structures that support the goal, in this case, of being thankful.

Your readers may like to know that there is a place where we explore the place of thanks and gratitude in professional life. It is called Say Thanks Every Day, and you can find us at http://saythankseveryday.ning.com .

In particular, we'd love to hear peoples stories about how being thankful has made a difference.

Thanks, Steve, you are the best.
Ed

[Steve Roesler]

Ed,

Your efforts at acknowledging the importance of gratitude prompted me to do an addition to the post. I hope that folks take advantage of it.

[Unomi]

I've been said 'Thanks for today' a couple of times. And you know what? I know most employees do the best they can, but sometimes they slack off a bit too. Willingly and knowingly they did less than they could. And if you are said 'Thanks for today', you feel guilty because you know that during the day there was a moment you even could have done better. It boils down to a bit of conscience and honesty that tells you you did something wrong. This makes you work harder the next time, to avoid the feeling of misleading your manager. At least, that is how I feel it.

- Unomi -

[Frode H]

Hi Steve.
Interesting post, as I am currently doing a survey at my blog where I want to get a few answers to some questions around employees. I have two questions where there so far is 7 % answering more than 30 days to the following questions:

How long is it since the last time you got positive feedback from co-workers?

How long is it since the last time you got positive feedback from managers?

And the majority answering 15-30 days on both questions, I find it very interesting. I have not yet gotten enough people to answer the survey but there is no hurry. Still it is starting to show a trend.

So to the interesting:
Those that got positive feedback from management within the last week answer 4 out of 6 on "how happy are you with your boss?"

Those that have not had a positive feedback in 15 days or more, average at 2.5 out of 6 on the same question.

So it is easy to be a good boss, give lots of positive feedback and at least once a week! Well this is the numbers so far, not scientific and too few answers yet, but it is very interesting to see how it develops as the answers are coming in.

If any employees are reading this please do participate in my little survey at: http://nevermindthemanager.com/survey/index.php?sid=17311&lang=en

[Steve Roesler]

Frode:

Thanks for the update. I am going to add your survey link to the post. Let's see if we can get more respondents.

[Wally Bock]

My mother wrote at least three thank-you notes every day of her adult life. Once I asked her what happened if there was no one to thank that day. She gave me the "mom look" and said, "Wally, there's always someone to thank."

For managers, the corollary is that there's always something to thank for without making something up. It might be effort or improvement or taking the time to help another team member. If you look, you'll find it.