How ?Thank You? Can Help You Retain Employees
There is always a great deal of debate about employee retention/happiness and how to achieve it. Understandably, some human resource experts think a high salary makes employees come to work while others assert it?s really the attractive benefits package that?s more important. However, research suggests one of the most powerful things you can do to keep employees around and make them feel happy is simply to say ?thank you.?
Communication May Be More Important Than Compensation
You probably know someone who felt frustrated because of a non-communicative boss or maybe you?ve even dealt with a superior who lacked basic communication skills. When bosses seem distant because they don?t communicate with employees well, workers often feel alienated and start to have doubts about whether their outputs are as good as expected.
If you notice employees are producing good work, take a moment to let them know you?ve noticed and you want them to keep it up. The combination of directly received gratitude and feedback about the quality of the work should be enough to assure workers you think they are genuine assets and boost employee retention/happiness.
Well-Timed Gratitude Is Even More Motivating Than Physical Rewards
Logic may tell you if an employee had a choice, he or she would certainly prefer some sort of tangible reward for good work, such as a gift card. However, researchers have found that a key factor in the amount of employee retention/happiness associated with an organization is the frequency of verbal, gratitude-related feedback.
It?s not enough to simply save all your ?thank you? expressions until end-of-the-year performance reviews. Real-time gratitude works well because it lets employees know you?re seeing all their efforts and recognizing how they fit into the workplace?s overall goals. Consequently, it should be easier for employees to see that they are truly worthwhile in the workplace and shouldn?t feel compelled to take their talents elsewhere.
Managerial Appreciation Deemed More Important Than Career Advancement
When workers were asked to name the things that were most important to them in relation to their careers, the top element by far was appreciation received from management personnel. You may be surprised to know that career advancement was only deemed most important by a small percentage of respondents and even fewer prioritized getting raises.
You may have found some of this information about employee retention/happiness at least a bit startling and if so, that?s okay. The important thing to do now is apply this new knowledge to daily interactions with employees, starting simply by saying ?thank you? more often.
