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Worried About Employee Morale? Try Thank-you Notes and Flowers

DUBAI — Four out of five people who quit their jobs do so because they don’t feel appreciated, and 88 per cent of employees identify a lack of recognition by their bosses as the biggest issue at their workplace, says international management consultant and author 
Chester Elton.

Statistics suggest that a company would make a serious and self-defeating mistake if it tried to cut costs during the current downturn by eliminating job-training and employee-recognition programs, Elton told UAE business leaders on Monday.

Managers around the world often overlook or dismiss the value of a simple gesture of appreciation for a job well done, and this oversight, or ignorance, can be costly. A handwritten thank-you note, a congratulatory plaque, or a bouquet of flowers can be powerful incentives that help deepen an employee’s loyalty and motivate him or 
her to work harder.

Such gestures “cost a pittance,” yet they can help companies retain top talent—a vital consideration today, when business conditions are tough, the Canadian-born Elton argued.

“You really can’t get engaged employees unless you appreciate the power of recognition,” he told an audience at the opening day of the two-day Leaders in Dubai conference. “I’m not here to say recognition is a substitute for pay. It’s not. But once you’ve taken care of the basics,… adding recognition to that is an accelerator.”

Elton drew his conclusions from a survey of employees and managers in 14 countries, including 600 people in the UAE, that his US-based consultancy Carrot Culture conducted just as the financial crisis was unfolding. The survey found that while 56 per cent of senior managers, on average, thought they were good at communicating appreciation to their staff, 35 per cent of middle managers felt the same way and only 23 per cent of their employees agreed.

However, managers who single out outstanding employees for praise or who take 90 seconds to write a personal thank-you note are doing things that encourage a worker to engage more productively with his or her job, he said. “Thank-you in any language is appropriate.”

In the UAE, employees who felt adequately recognised for their contributions were even more engaged with their jobs, on average, than respondents from the other 13 nations, said Elton, who was visiting Dubai for the first time.

Elton is the author of “The Carrot Principle,” a management best-seller first published in 2007 that stresses the importance to employers of providing positive incentives, or “carrots,” at the workplace.

He set a playful tone from the start of his presentation, tossing orange flying discs and toy carrots into the audience of several hundred at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. He wore a vivid orange necktie, socks and wristwatch to reinforce his message that carrots are a vital ingredient of a happy and productive workplace.

Elton quizzed members of the audience and charged up to them with prizes—toy carrots, or course—for correct answers. Video clips and music samples added to his entertaining, 90-minute performance.

“We literally travel the world, and we remind people to say thank you,” he told reporters afterward. “And when you think about it, that’s sad. 
But it’s needed.”

Elton acknowledged that his advice might sound soft and somewhat intangible, but he maintained that companies that are stingy about celebrating the achievements and good efforts of their workers are only 
harming themselves.

Workers who quit their jobs often say publicly that they did so because they were offered a higher salary. But Elton found that the average salary increase for workers who switch employers is 3 per cent, a surprisingly low figure that suggests some people actually take a pay cut to leave a job where there feel unappreciated.

It’s not enough for managers to talk in general about teamwork or to put up posters of oarsmen rowing in unison in an attempt to motivate their staff. Employees need praise, and they need it often.

“General praise has no impact. Specificity always works,” he said. “People may forget what you said or even how you said it, but they never forget how you made them feel.”

Elton told Khaleej Times that his favourite way to reward a stellar employee is to give a voucher for an evening out at a family-oriented restaurant so that the worker and his or her family can spend freely for food and drinks “without conscience.”
— bruce@khaleejtimes.com