It's Thanksgiving week and we're mainly focused on our families and being grateful for their place in our lives.
But what about our other family? You know, the people you spend 40 (more like 60) hours a week with?
When you take out time for sleeping you may spend more time with your work colleagues than your family.
As you carve your turkey this week think about your work team too. Are you showing your work team gratitude?
Work Appropriate Gratitude Guidelines
Let's set the record straight on work appropriate gratitude. A hug fest or a lunch where your employees have to be with you is not gratitude. That's torture.
Make it Personal
I had a boss that gave every staff member a small framed picture of a Christmas tree his wife painted. While the woman was clearly talented the gift fell short of feeling personal. I was left feeling unimportant or cared about. Gratitude toward your team should be personal and heartfelt, making each member feel valued and important.
Find the Motivator
An easy way to figure out what motivates each of your employees is asking them. If you have a brand new team you can send a short survey using surveymonkey, googleforms or printing one and keeping them on file. (in my leadershift course I provide you with a form to share with your team)
Money Doesn't Matter
When you know your team and what they value you'll see it's rarely high ticket items. Buying them their favorite candy, a Redbox gift card or a starbucks gift card goes a long way with a tired employee that pulled an all nighter on a project.
A Raise Is Not Gratitude
Yes, it shows you value the employee but standard of living raises are an annual activity and significant raises are even less often. Only showing gratitude once a year or less isn't going to keep your team motivated or very happy.
The Written Word Never Goes Out of Style
I'm a words of affirmation person and no amount of money can fill my need to hear "good job" or "you're valued." We live in an email world which makes hand written notes even more precious to the receiver. Write a short note and leave it on your employee's desk expressing your deep gratitude for their efforts.
Gratitude is a Year-Round Practice
Christmas and Hanukah will be upon us soon but think of gratitude as a seasonless gesture. We all need to feel appreciation regardless of the time of year. If you feel your team losing focus why not throw some gratitude around to bring back morale.