The one step that all leaders can take to drive results is supported by mom and empirical research. It is simple and straight forward. Even a five-year-old can do it. Say “thank you.”
When employees are recognized and thanked by their leaders, it significantly raises their sense of achievement, engages them, and reinforces the behavior so that it is repeated. It is even more powerful when leaders are specific about the action or behavior they are thankful for, are timely with the feedback, and deliver the feedback face-to-face, with a sincere smile on their face. A handshake helps too!
Studies of emotion and performance show that positive emotions need to outnumber negative emotions for employees to be able to perform at their best. In fact, the ratio of positive to negative emotions should be between 3:1 and 5:1 for optimal performance.[i]
So, take your mother’s advice – say “thank you.”
This week, the United States celebrates the holiday of Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving was in 1621. Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest with the Wampanoag Indians, who taught them how to grow crops in their strange surroundings, and fed the Pilgrims during a brutal winter to prevent starvation.
Wherever you are around the world, this is a great week to give thanks for your many blessings and say “thank you.”
In honor of Thanksgiving, I will not publish a blog next week. Thank you all for your support.
Victor Assad is the CEO of Victor Assad Strategic Human Resources Consulting and is a Managing Partner of InnovationOne. He consults on innovation, talent management, developing agile leaders and teams, and other strategic initiatives. Questions? Please e-mail Victor at victorassad6@gmail.com or visit www.victorhrconsultant.com. For innovation visit www.InnovationOne.US.
[i] “Is Fear a Good Motivator?” (Jan. 20, 2012). Manage Fearlessly. Retrieved from www.managefearlessly.com/blog/fear-good-motivato.