Bosses are worse at saying thank you to staff than 10 years ago

As part of National Thank You Week (24th–30th November) research reveals British businesses are split between ‘thankers’ and ‘thank nots’.That is those who recognise the importance of appreciating and motivating their employees and those who neglect this in the workplace. When asked whether they thought UK bosses were better or worse at saying thank you now than 10 years ago, 22% of those surveyed thought they had improved but 37% felt they had grown worse.

Maritz commissioned the workplace survey as part of its fourth year sponsoring National Thank You Week. The positive news is that the percentage of people in full or part time work in the UK who never receive a thank you has halved in the past year, falling from one in three (30%) in 2007 to one in six (16%). However, while half (51%) of the working population receive a thank you once a month or more, only slightly fewer – 44% – receive a thank you just once every few months or less frequently.

Moira Clark, Professor of Strategic Marketing and Director of the Henley Centre for Customer Management, comments: “Great staff are the only competitive advantage any organisation has that cannot be copied so it is vital that employees are made to feel appreciated and valued. My own research substantiates this, revealing that in high performing companies, i.e. those with high customer retention levels, staff are frequently rewarded, e.g. thanked. However, in low performing companies, employees are punished, e.g. ignored or reprimanded, more frequently than they are rewarded.”

The survey revealed that more people left their last job because they didn’t feel valued or appreciated by management than for an improved work/life balance or pay cheque. Just over 2 in 5 (43%) people said that not feeling valued contributed greatly or a fair amount to their decision to leave, compared with 3 in10 (34%) who left searching for a better work/life balance. With the CIPD estimating the cost of replacing an employee at almost £8,000*, regular, genuine appreciation seems a small price to pay.

Nick Bender, Managing Director of Maritz comments: “It is clear that being thanked and appreciated for hard work has a really positive effect, making employees feel happier, work harder and stay with the company longer; yet employers are not putting in the extra effort themselves. Taking the time to say a personal thank you for a job well done costs nothing yet can make a big contribution to the productivity and success of a business.”

A simple thank you has a significant effect on how people feel and perform at work. Being thanked has a slightly greater effect on morale than on productivity and retention, with almost 9 out of 10 people saying a thank you has a positive or very positive effect on morale, compared with 8 out of 10 for both productivity and retention.

15 Oct 2008

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