Leadership: The power of gratitude in transforming teams

There is so much power in gratitude that it is ironic how leaders have not annexed it. Saying “thank you” to team members has an inherent ability to make them do more. There is a traditional saying in the Yoruba language of Southwest Nigeria that when you praise an individual for an action, it propels him to repeat it. Leaders must learn to be generous with “thank you.” “Thank you” is a magical expression that can keep your team members doing more to get better results. Unfortunately, some leaders find it difficult to express “thank you.” This is an attitude that requires a change for any leader to see his team perform better.

Douglas Conant is the former CEO of Campbell Soup Company. During his tenure between 2001 and 2011, he made it a habit to write between 20 and 30 handwritten thank-you notes every day to recognise and appreciate his employees. It was estimated that he wrote over 30,000 handwritten thank-you notes to employees over a period of 10 years. This seemingly simple act of his transformed a toxic culture into one of high performance and productivity, with employee engagement improving significantly. Conant mentioned the specific action or achievement of the employee that impressed him. This boosted morale, increased motivation, and fostered a positive work environment. Some years after Conant resumed, he said, “We had a toxic culture. People were understandably jaundiced with management; it was hard for me to imagine that we could inspire high performance with no employee engagement.” Conant turned a beleaguered company with declining sales into one with top-tier shareholder returns in the global food industry.

Saying “thank you” should not be once in a blue moon. It should be a daily expression, and this must find expression amongst your team members. It is a powerful way to acknowledge another person’s value and humanity. Research from companies like Google’s Project Oxygen revealed that expressing gratitude isn’t just nice; it’s neurologically significant. When employees receive genuine thanks, their bodies release dopamine and serotonin, literally making them feel better and work better. These two words, “thank you,” have shown numerous benefits in the workplace, ranging from promoting harmony, better heart health, improvement of self-esteem, a boost to self-confidence, and increased motivation. There is no organisation that has gone through a cultural revolution without making a deliberate effort to acknowledge little efforts from employees. When Satya Nadella took over Microsoft, he made gratitude a cornerstone of the company’s cultural transformation. In team meetings, he regularly starts by acknowledging specific contributions, setting a tone that has helped Microsoft regain its innovative edge.

“When employees receive genuine thanks, their bodies release dopamine and serotonin, literally making them feel better and work better.”

Ingratitude or an oversight of good work being done by employees can be very costly. A major digital solutions company saw a 37 percent higher turnover in teams where managers rarely expressed appreciation. Another company, a retail chain organisation, discovered that stores with the lowest employee satisfaction scores (employee satisfaction influenced by perceived appreciation) had 31 percent higher shrinkage rates. Shrinkage rate is a percentage of lost inventory.

Saying “thank you” has the capacity to increase bonding between the leader and the led. It enhances trust between the leader and the followers, and it gives comfort to the employees that they are being valued by their unit heads. Leaders must learn to say, “Thank you!”!

You can institutionalise gratitude in your organisation with one or more of the following:

Make it a daily practice: Southwest Airlines encourages immediate recognition through their “SWAG” (Southwest Airlines Gratitude) program.

Award and Recognition Programmes: American Express’ “Great Citizen” award programme recognises employees who embody company values. This could be a monthly event and a grand one on a yearly basis.