Employee Appreciation Day Benefits Employees and Managers

Hurry! You only have 2 weeks to plan!

The first Friday in March is National Employee Appreciation Day.  With just a couple weeks to go, now is the time to decide how you want to express gratitude for your employees.

The good news is that you don’t have to do anything elaborate, so planning will be easy.  Follow this link to read a prior article How to Express Your Gratitude on Employee Appreciation Day and grab some inspiration.

If you don’t see how you’ll be able to fit this into your already busy schedule, I get it.  Keep reading to learn why you may want to give it priority.

More Than a Fun Day

Employee Appreciation Day is often honored with breakfast, lunch, cake, and other celebratory activities.  Most workplaces don’t need much of an excuse to throw a party!

But beyond infusing some fun into the workday, expressing gratitude to your team can have a positive impact on morale, retention, and productivity.

Employees often stay at bad companies because of their direct supervisor.  They also leave good companies for the same reason.  A supervisor or manager who shows human emotions, including care and thankfulness for his/her team is much more likely to be in the “good boss” column.

In a study at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers divided a group of university fund-raisers into two groups. One set was told by the director of annual giving that she was grateful for their efforts, and the other was not.  During the next week, those who received the statement of gratitude made 50% more calls than those who didn’t.

Wow! Even if you get a fraction of those returns on your words of thanks, it’s an excellent investment.

What’s Good for the Receiver is Good for the Giver

Not only does gratitude have a positive impact on employees, but it’s also good for the supervisor expressing it. Research shows that people who focus on gratitude are both happier and healthier.

Robert A. Emmons, professor of psychology at University of California, Davis, has conducted studies on the connection between gratitude and mental health.  He has found that gratitude both increases happiness and decreases depression.

Emmons has also found that gratitude can lower blood pressure, improve immune function, and aid more efficient sleep.  Another study from the University of California San Diego’s School of Medicine revealed grateful people had less inflammation and healthier heart rhythms.

If you are not in a good frame of mind or are not in good health, you won’t be able to effectively support your team.  Gratitude is a fantastic way to counteract the toll daily stress of balancing work and personal responsibilities takes on your health!

What are you Grateful for?

Let this year’s National Employee Appreciation Day be the beginning of a life-long habit of gratitude.

Keeping a gratitude journal where you write down five things you’re grateful for at the end of every day has a way of keeping the mind focused on all the wonderful things in life.  Focusing on the good stuff just feels good, doesn’t it?

Start your new habit right now but posting in the comments below one thing you’re grateful for at work.

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People Matters supports business owners and leaders in all areas of human resources management including the topic in this article: supervising people.

HR is what we at People Matters love to do! We help our clients create great workplaces that engage employees and produce better business results.

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