Being Thankful

Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made to Stick, write an article in every issue of Fast Company magazine.  It is one of the first pieces I read.  In one of the more recent issues, they talked about the value of being thankful and grateful.  They said it was an economic issue as well as an emotional one. 

Their premise was that companies should make it easy to pay compliments to workers as well as complaints.  The call centers or customer service centers tend to field problems, questions, and complaints, but it is just as important for people to have a number to call when they want to thank someone for the service.

What I found even more interesting is that they reported in a survey of 10,000 employees from the 1,000 largest companies, that 40% of the workers cited "lack of recognition" as a key reason for leaving a job.  They also stated that expressing gratitude can make yourself happier also. 

As Thanksgiving approaches, let's find ways to be thankful and to express an attitude of gratitude because it is as important to the sender as it is to the person receiving the message.

Comments

[Miki]

Hi Jann, that desire for recognition/acknowledgment isn't new; it was one of the three top reasons to change 30 years ago when I was an executive recruiter. The other two were to "make a difference" and to be challenged/grow. Looks as if companies/managers still don't have a clue.