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Recognise your team – 8 ways to say “Thank You” without saying the words

  By christinapd • May 29, 2012 - 11:43 am
481545035 Valuing your team can only come from a sincere place, value and recognise

A recent report in HR Magazine by David Woods reported “Employers are failing to inspire their staff and make them feel valued, with only 21% of employees believing their company cares about its staff, according to a YouGov survey of over 1,000 workers, commissioned by performance consultancy, River Marketing”

The results don’t surprise me, although I think it’s a downright shame that people aren’t experiencing a greater sense of value from the workplace. People need to feel valued, and quite often there is a misconception that actually a simple “Thank you” will achieve just that.

How often have you heard someone say “Just a thank you would have been nice” “I just wanted them to recognise me”, or “it’s a thankless job” or words to that effect? In numerous employee feedback surveys I have seen results which deliver the verdict that employees don’t feel recognised. They don’t think the feedback they get is meaningful, or worse, they don’t get feedback at all. It’s an age old problem, which hasn’t changed significantly for the better certainly in my career span.

I have worked on a number of engagement strategies drilling down to why people aren’t engaged, and yes there are many reasons and many ways in which your business can help to better engage employees and reap all the benefits that such engagement brings. What has I think become a catchall in terms of a solution is the expectation that leaders and managers should say “Thank you”.

On the surface saying thank you seems obvious, and if you get a thank you from someone, mostly it’s welcomed. The trouble with giving managers a direction that they should thank their team or they should say thank you, is that it smacks of insincerity. It’s a little like the old school of good manners. Say thank you, no matter what, even if you aren’t at all thankful for what you’ve received.

I wish when I was younger, my parents hadn’t just told me to say thank you. I wish they’d understood why fostering an attitude of gratitude and appreciation was much more important. Why? Because the feeling and the sincerity behind the words “Thank You” are the vital ingredients to reaching the right state where great things can happen, both at home and at work.

Now I am authentic enough to say thank you in context. So if I don’t like what someone has given me, for example the box of chocolates when I’ve just started my diet, or a report which bears no resemblance to what I asked for. I can at least thank people for the effort or the thought, which is much more honest than thanking them for the gift or the work which doesn’t actually fit the bill. I also know that I never say thank you without meaning it sincerely and appreciatively.

For great leaders and managers to say the words “Thank you” authentically, they may never actually utter those particular words. They may say thank you in a multitude of ways, but you can guarantee that the words do not matter when the underlying state of real gratitude or appreciation is present. When you are in that state, the rest just takes care of itself.

I have worked for some interesting people over the years. Some I’ve loved working for, some I haven’t. Some I’ve admired and appreciated, and again some I haven’t. The ones I remember are the ones that actually thanked me for my efforts. Mostly they didn’t say the words “thank you”. But here are some of the ways I knew they valued and appreciated me.

They .

  •  accepted me completely for who I am, warts and all.
  •  saw in me, things I didn’t see for myself
  •  encouraged me
  •  triggered aspirations in me
  •  brushed off my mistakes and encouraged me to focus on what I had learned
  •  taught me all they knew, openly and unselfishly
  •  helped me change my perspective when my perspective wasn’t working for me.
  •  laughed with me. They showed me not to take things too seriously, and helped me put work in perspective

Some of those people aren’t actually here any longer. I wish I had realised their impact on me and on my way of life at the time, but I didn’t. But at least now I can silently say to them “Thank You” your input meant everything. And I actually mean it.

Who are you impacting on today? Do you feel gratitude and appreciation for your team, or your family, or whoever is helping you? What do you think? I’d love to hear from you

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.

   
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Your Employees And Your New Years Resolution

  By Christina Lattimer • December 30, 2011 - 10:40 am
If your New Year’s resolution doesn’t include some positive steps for your employees, then you are missing a trick.

There are some great enlightened businesses out there who know that the secret to longevity and real business success is made up of two critical, unequivocal elements which include their employees.  A great engaged workforce who love what they are doing and secondly fantastic innovative customer service. Yes, there’s a lot of other elements in-between and around, but none of those will amount to much if the two most critical factors aren’t in place. If you’re one of those businesses then great.  Congratulations, please get in touch, I would absolutely love to feature you. If you aren’t, then I’d also love to hear from you as to why not , your employees are important right?  The reason I suspect that there are businesses out there who don’t get the first two factors right is because of the report published  by CIPD  in October 2011 which discloses that stress and mental illness has become the biggest reason for absence across the UK. A discussion about the report , which can be found here http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2011/12/news-review-2011-sickness-absence.htm  talks about the heightened threat of job insecurity, the perils of lack of work/life balance and the necessity for flexible working, and wellbeing strategies at work.   A lack of attention to any of these for any business may well end up with a cost attached. So what are we to do?  We can’t wave a magic wand and wish away the economic reality.  We know that there are employees who have greater resilience to uncertainty and increased hours/workload, less pay etc.  These unfortunately are the features of the economic climate that seem to be in play.  There are some employees who find it more difficult to cope with such measures. I am an idealist.  I would dearly like to think that we can make people happy at work.  I am thankfully though through years of practical hands on experience, also a realist. I know that there are many factors to achieving an engaged workforce, not least the attitudes and beliefs of our employees.  What I do know though is that we can help people navigate diffic ult terrain in a different way.  A way which minimises stress and enhances work-life balance, and promotes engagement and commitment. Dame Carol Black has suggested a number of measures to help the situation.  These are also outlined in the report above.  The suggestions are helpful, although some may be difficult to implement in reality.  I do understand though the realistic approach being suggested given the size of the problem.  We all know that a sticking plaster is essential while we wait for healing to take place.  Without the sticking plaster we may bleed for much longer. It’s also essential  though that we need to practice not getting hurt in the first place.  And this is where an internal people strategy is vital.  A strategy to help your employers navigate the terrain; to understand how important their wellbeing and commitment is to the success of the business as well as to their own lives.  You also need great people managers.   Managers who know how to motivate and get the best out of your people are vital to the success of your business. Stephanie Bird of CIPD reported “Last year’s government-commissioned review of employee engagement highlighted the link between effective leadership and people management skills, enhanced employee engagement and improved business performance. Yet the UK invests less in management development than its main international competitors, and its managers are rated less positively by employees.” I have worked with organisations in the past who when it was pointed out that it might be beneficial to  pay attention to the wellbeing, engagement levels and work/life balance of staff, have considered such scrutiny “naval gazing” when they should be focusing on the important outcome, customer focused results.  It is sometimes a successful strategy to only focus on outcomes, in the short term.  In the long term, though it doesn’t sustain or make the business a great success. If you don’t get the int ernal customer service right, then the external customer service will usually be hanging by a thread.  Don’t let this happen to you.  The right balance can be beneficial to your business. Additionally if you whip your employees with the “economic reality”  stick and use it as an excuse not to pay attention to them, then in happier times, they will march through the door and take all of that experience and skill with them. Research is indeed now showing the benefits of a happier more engaged workforce.  Why not plug into these benefits now, and make a commitment to your people for 2012. If you’d like to see more about solutions for managing employees, see related links below. What do you think about the issue?   Do please post your comments.   Your Employees        

If you are a leader, you are continually developing and "Sharpening the Saw".  If you lead and manage teams, then you must read about our Inspirational New Leadership Programme.  Sign up now to find out more details when we launch in July 2014.  There is no obligation to undertake the programme, if you sign up today, you will simply be sent more information about the programme.  You can unsubscribe at any time!  Click below to register for further information.