The power of "thank you": appreciation as a management strategy.

Abstract

‘‘Thank you’’ is one of the three magic words. As children, our parents told us that ‘‘please’’ and ‘‘thank you’’ were the magic words we needed to use regularly. And there is a lot to that. I remember being asked ‘‘What’s the magic word?’’ whenever I forgot to say please or thank you. I was also required to write a thank you note for every gift I received as soon as possible. But saying thank you is becoming a lost art. Thank you is very powerful, especially at work. Thank you helps people feel appreciated and boosts their selfconfidence. It positively affects morale and helps people feel like they are an important part of the team. It helps staff feel that their hard work and contribution really matter to the organization. It motivates people to repeat the behavior and do an even better job in the future. It is often passed on to the customer with a smile and a thank you. We know that there are many positive benefits of saying thank you, and yet, so many times, we do not use it as a leadership strategy. Why is that? Some managers believe that you should not need to thank staff for doing the job they are hired to do. Some managers feel uncomfortable or even awkward expressing appreciation verbally or in writing. Some managers think that the annual evaluation lets the staff member know where he or she stands and that is all that is needed. Some believe that no news is good news. Some managers focus only on the staff who are creating problems rather than on the staff who are doing well. Some believe it takes too much time to write thank you notes or hold appreciation activities; they need to devote time to more important things. And some believe it does not really make any difference, so why do it? The bottom line is that we all need to make ‘‘thank you’’ a habit. Doug Conant, CEO of Campbell Soup from 2001 to 2011, wrote approximately 30,000 thank you notes to employees. In the process, he energized the company and engaged the workforce (Gordon, 2011). Letting the staff know how grateful you are for them and for what they do is a very powerful motivator. It’s not the size of the gesture but the fact that you noticed the contribution. Recently, a group of managers and I were encouraged to make more frequent and effective use of ‘‘thank you.’’ The boss/mentor suggested that we use handwritten notes and, to that end, gave us each a box of beautiful thank you cards to get us started. That got me to think about other ways I might say thank you to the staff. I remembered that one of my peers used to send those thank you notes, not to the staff member, but to the spouse or children or parents. Think of the impact of receiving a thank you letter commending the performance of a family member. Before you start using ‘‘thank you’’ as a management strategy, you need to know how each staff member likes to be appreciated. To determine that, you just need to ask. Does the staff member prefer a thank you in n private or public, n writing or verbally, n small gifts or treats, n symbols or honors, n team recognition or individual recognition, or n spending time with you? Everyone likes to be appreciated in their own way. I prefer appreciation expressed in writing so I can include the note in my portfolio, in private, and in spending time with my boss. I love to go to breakfast or lunch with her in the cafeteria or sometimes even in a local restaurant. However, others feel more appreciated when the acknowledgment is public. What are some ways we can say thank you to the staff in addition to the handwritten note or the verbal ‘‘thank you?’’ Think of all the ways people have said thank you Joyce A. Johnson, PhD, RN-BC, is Regional Director of Education and Research, Kaiser Permanente, Pasadena, California. E-mail: Joyce.A .Johnson@kp.org.