Simply Say Thank You

The following is a quote from Jack Canfield, author and CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises.

Practice appreciation. Studies of employee motivation inevitably find that feeling appreciated is the single greatest motivator in the workplace, even ahead of higher wages. Yet many people fail to put the power of appreciation to full use in their business and personal lives.

When you show people that you appreciate them, you not only make them feel better, you make yourself more successful. People are more likely to help you achieve your goals if they believe that you appreciate their efforts. There's no downside -- appreciation costs nothing, and no one has ever complained about being over-appreciated.

This quote was sent to me by a dear friend and relative. I believe showing appreciation is THE most important act we perform - not just for the person we thank, but for ourselves.

I especially find that thanking a clerk for her service or her help, even though she may just be doing her job, changes that person's attitude immediately. Recently a young woman in a copy store had a day's work stacked up. Although I was only in town for an hour, she said she could not help me until the next day. A man who was also waiting for help began telling me, where
the clerk could hear him, that this young woman had always helped him when he needed her, and she was the most diligent and concerned person who worked there. I'm not in a hurry, he said. I will wait for her because she knows her business better than anyone.

I immediately saw the difference in this overworked employee.
Her expression softened. She opened a conversation with me and asked questions about what I wanted. I told her my dilemma, and how much I would appreciate her help. I told the gentleman beside me that I always made a policy to tell companies when their clerks were helpful. I said I felt everyone should hear the good things as well as the bad. And I truly do. I've written letters to presidents of corporations in appreciation of a local employee.
It takes so little to say thanks. And it goes so far. The kindly clerk helped me with my copies and I was out of there within an hour.
I grew up in a family with a father who believed that giving compliments or open appreciation was either a sign of weakness or would be harmful to his children. He didn't want to make his kids think they were more important than they really were. There was no chance of that. We grew up insecure and thinking we were never good enough.
I don't know what made him this way. Perhaps it was just his generation and the way they were raised. I've heard others speak of parents who were the same way.

For years I didn't know how to show my appreciation. Embarrassment filled my mouth and words scrambled around in my head when I tried to give compliments or show my gratitude. But somewhere along the way, I realized how my spirit was lifted when I was told that my efforts had been recognized.
The employer who changed my attitude the most was T.W., a woman I worked for, part time, for five years. She not only told me how much she appreciated me, she told others in my presence. I was a grown woman, but I felt as happy as a kid chosen for the school play.
I had been told that if an employer showed too much appreciation for his workers, they would take advantage of him, become lax in their jobs. That didn't make sense to me.
I know I craved appreciation and acknowledgement of my work efforts. It was, indeed, more valuable to me than money. As T.W. made me feel good about myself, I worked longer hours than was required, I took work home to be sure it was the best it could be. Most of all, I learned from this smart woman that if I should happen to make an error, it was not the end of the world. She still appreciated me.

Once I learned how easy it is to say thank you and express my appreciation to others, and I saw how much difference it can make in a relationship, I try to make sure my gratefullness is evident to those I work with and to others.
Barry and I with other relatives helped my sister and brother-in-law leave the family home and move to a retirement center in Atlanta. I wrote a letter to my sister, my nieces and to the couple who had to move, to tell everyone how well they did with the jobs they took on in this re-settlement. And I told my sister and her husband how grateful I was for their cooperation, their patience, and lack of complaint in this trying business of giving up their belongings, their keepsakes, learning a new life style and making new friends. Both June and Charlie have been outstanding in the way they accepted the little glitches that occurred, our mistakes and ommissions. I thought they deserved a great deal of appreciation for making our lives a little less stressful. Maybe my note of thanks has helped them to be more patient as well.

I am thankful for all our Netwest members and the cooperation they have given me since I took office as Program Coordinator June 1, 2007. Because they show their support and appreciation to me, I work as hard as I can to do a good job for all our writers.