It’s a very small thing to say thank you to the people who are in your life, yet in the workplace gratitude is sometimes hard to come by.
While a paycheck at the end of the week is the reason that your employees clock in from 9 to 5, in a modern hiring environment it’s not enough. You need to make your team members feel appreciated, or they and their talents will walk out the door to the next employer who does express gratitude to their people.

Consider this:
Surveys show that 53% of people polled confirm that employer gratitude directly affects the length they would stay at a job, and 81% admit to working harder for a manager who shows appreciation.

So the only thing to ask yourself is…

How have YOU shown gratitude to your team today?

Need some help with that?

Here are 5 easy to implement ways to show your employees how grateful you are for their hard work.

Say it.
How easy is that? No cost, no effort, no worries!
Mention excellent achievements and skills in the weekly meeting or newsletter, or just look out for opportunities to highlight great work throughout the week.
It really is the small things that make our lives happy, so a well-timed appreciative comment from a boss can steer an employee’s day off on a happy and productive path.

Be flexible with time.

If there is any way to allow your team to leave early on occasion or work from home, take it!
Life is frantic and when people are working hard, their work/life balance tends to become disrupted leading to stress and unhappiness.
Many companies who can do so are actively moving their teams to working from home several days a week or even full time.
As long as tasks are being completed and deadlines met with clear communication via slack or other remote working tools, who cares if Sandra from sales exceeds her quota on Tuesdays while wearing fuzzy bunny slippers at home. Or if having finished her duties in the office, heading home an hour early to catch some time with her kids.
Respect your employees time, and they will in turn respect you.

Give Rewards.
Mums all over the world have been using this trick on kids for ages, placing stickers on a chores chart with a small treat at the end. Kids eat up this rewards system and adults are no different.
Offer a paid day off for team member who meets their target 3 months in  a row, or a free pizza lunch delivery for a teamwide success and watch productivity take off!
The tasks may be different but the motivation is the same. Everyone loves rewards.

Get Genuine with Gifts.
We’ve all been to that office work birthday where a big card, supermarket cake and bottle of wine has been given to a recipient who doesn’t drink.
Awkward and impersonal – nothing says I don’t care about you like a badly thought out gift.
Get to know your team.
They all have hobbies and interests outside of work. How thrilled and SEEN a person who loves their dog would feel if you got an artist to make a neat caricature of them and their pet. Or even as simple as the office rock climber being given a voucher to the local climbing equipment outlet.

Further education
Has your amazing but inexperienced employee expressed an interest in learning more about a facet of the business, or laments they never learned a skill that would help them in their career?
Everyone needs growth to feel fulfilled so if your company can afford to fund an education stipend it can be a great way to enrich your grateful team members skills.
Not an option financially? Put them into touch with someone in the field for mentorship and advice or tutor them yourself.
This one is a great option as it can benefit you and the company in so many ways with a future highly skilled worker.

However you choose to do it, be it big or small, what’s important is that you DO IT.
Express your appreciation to your employees and they will in turn work harder for you.

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