Why You Should Show Gratitude To Employees This Thanksgiving

During this time last year we published a post entitled, The Awe-Inspiring Power of Employee Appreciation. This topic is more relevant than ever as devoted employees continue to spend the majority of their waking hours working and commuting. They deserve to be appreciated for their powerful contributions. 

Expressing gratitude makes us feel better, it decreases stress, and it creates environments where others can flourish. So before you head off to the airport or to buy your turkey, take a few moments to read these articles about gratitude and to share that sentiment with the people at your company.

1. Choose To Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier.

by: Arthur C. Brooks

Should you celebrate the holiday even if you don’t feel grateful? Arthur’s simple answer is yes, because acting grateful can inspire feelings of genuine gratitude.

Some people are genetically predispositioned to exhibit more positive emotions and have more satisfying relationships. For those who seem to have a harder time in life, scientific studies have shown that faking it ‘till you make it actually works! In other words, saying thanks and smiling stimulate the brain to lower stress and increase pleasure. Besides these selfish reasons, expressing gratitude more often can also have a positive impact on others around us.

2. 7 Ways To Show Meaningful Gratitude To Employees

by: Kevin Daum

Simon Cohen has grown Henco into one of the largest global logistics companies. His success is based on employee happiness and productivity, which in-turn are based on a culture of gratitude – solving problems with a smile instead of a bad mood.

For Cohen, communication is vital for healthy relationships between managers and employees. He suggests using positive words in every interaction, even if you are mad or disappointed. He also thinks that leaders should never assume that employees know how much they are appreciated:

Don’t keep those nice words on your mind… go out there and say it!

3. The 6 People At Work To Thank Before Thanksgiving and After

by: David Sturt & Todd Nordstrom

The folks at O.C. Tanner know a thing or two about employee recognition. David and Todd remind us to say thanks to people at work who support and guide our success. You may have already said thanks to those who qualify as the Inspirational Leader or your Core Team, but what about the oft-overlooked Curiosity King?

This is the person who is always asking questions, poking holes in accepted norms, and challenging the status quo. You know her, she’s always attending a seminar or workshop and then coming back to the team to share her newly acquired knowledge. Here’s your chance to show gratitude to those folks who empower greatness in others.

4. Black Friday Disrupter: REI Goes Retail Rogue

by: Shep Hyken

Many people believe in showing appreciation with gifts… especially around the holidays. And the best deals of the year on just about everything can be found at Thanksgiving time. But does it really make sense to show appreciation via material goods during one holiday by abandoning your family and friends during another one?

Last year Black Friday started even earlier, with stores opening on Thursday. This year Walmart is starting Cyber Monday on Sunday. Who wants to spend all of Friday at retail stores duking it out for a bargain on an X-Box One, and all of Sunday hitting refresh on Amazon.com?

This Friday, the outdoor specialty store REI will be showing appreciation by closing its 143 stores, while still paying every one of its 12,000 employees.  President and CEO, Jerry Stritzke explains “that Black Friday has gotten out of hand so we are choosing to invest in helping people get outside with loved ones this holiday.” If you are a fan of this initiative, you can tweet your Black Friday outdoor adventure to #OptOutside.

Appreciation doesn’t merely mean to give thanks, it means to add value. By recognizing others for who they are and what they do, we actually make them better. We inspire more of the greatness that we see.

Thank you for being a customer, a blog subscriber, a fan, or for just reading this post. Have a fantastic holiday!

Image Credit: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris