The New York Times posted this interesting data in a fascinating article by John Tierney, “Findings: A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day“.

“Cultivating an ‘attitude of gratitude’ links to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners. A new study shows that feeling grateful makes people less likely to turn aggressive when provoked.”

Show Gratitude During the Holidays
A Clinical Psychology Review study by Alex Wood et.al lays out the details if you are interested.  So if you missed the opportunity to show employees your appreciation at Thanksgiving, the upcoming Holiday season gives you a second chance.

Gratitude Lite
Not feeling it? The Times quotes the University of California, Davis’ Robert Emmons , author of Thanks! and other books on gratitude. Emmons recommends starting out with “gratitude lite.” He and colleague Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami conducted experiments, asking people to keep a brief, weekly “gratitude journal” listing five things they felt thankful for, like a beautiful sunset or a friend’s kindness.

After two months, the journalers were more optimistic, felt happier, reported fewer physical problems and spent more time working out, than control group members . They also fell asleep more quickly at night, slept longer and woke up feeling more refreshed.  Wow!

Five Ways to Feel Grateful
The New York Times article includes five tips experts offer for getting in the spirit:

1. Do something nice for a family member:
   Do one small kindness for a relative at your holiday celebration – listen attentively to yawn-worthy recollections, say thank you for a thoughtful gesture, or express admiration for a talent.

2. Turn the other cheek:
   If you count your blessings, you’ll be less likely to retaliate if a coworker or family member delivers a typically snarky comment. Say something positive instead and awaken that person’s empathy—they’ll pass the gratitude along.

3. Share the wealth:
   When you show gratitude, people realize they mean a lot to you, perhaps more than they thought. It’s a great way to uplift yourself and others.

4. Pay a gratitude visit:
   Write a very specific 300-word letter to someone who has changed your life for the better. Deliver it in person and read it aloud. “You’ll be happier in one month,” guarantees University of Pennsylvania’s Martin Seligman in a New York Times quote from his book, Flourish.

5. Seek “deep gratitude”:
   The New York Times quotes Emmons:  “As a culture, we have lost a deep sense of gratefulness about the freedoms we enjoy, a lack of gratitude toward those who lost their lives in the fight for freedom, a lack of gratitude for all the material advantages we have. The focus of [the holidays] should be a reflection of how our lives have been made so much more comfortable by the sacrifices of those who have come before us.”

Recognize Your Employees
Got your gratitude on?  This holiday season, thank your employees for their diligence. Be specific about how their efforts have fostered your organization’s growth and success in 2011. We’ve said it before, but a holiday Turkey Or Ham Certificate of Gratitude from gThankYou says “We appreciate all you do for us”.  Pass along the gratitude – you and your recipient will both benefit.

Happy Holidays!

About gThankYou, LLC

gThankYou! Turkey Gift Certificates are one of America’s favorite employee gifts and can be redeemed for any Brand whole Turkey, at virtually any Grocery Store in the U.S. 

gThankYou, LLC provides company leaders with a variety of easy, meaningful and affordable ways to recognize and reward employees, holiday time or anytime.  gThankYou! Certificates of Gratitude and free Enclosure Cards are personalizable including incorporating your company logo, and ship same day.

gThankYou, LLC (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, Wisconsin.  Contact:  Rick Kiley, Chief ThankYou! Officer, gThankYou, LLC at info@gthankyou.com or 888-484-1658.
Follow the Company Blog –  “Celebrating Work”.
Watch our gThankYou! YouTube Video – “Learn More About Us”.

“G” logo and “Certificates of Gratitude” are trademarks and “gThankYou” is a registered trademark of gThankYou, LLC.

Here are the top reasons to school your employees:

1.     They feel valued

As Beryl Companies CEO Paul Spiegelman explains in his Inc. com article Deliver Value to Your Employees—Your Most Important Stakeholders, “if you want employees to take a vested interest in the company’s future, you must take an interest in theirs—at work and at home.”  When employers care enough to help employees develop professionally and personally, the employees feel valued.  Valued employees are happier and more productive.

2.     An educated employee is a confident employee

Without proper training, employees can’t fully use their skills and abilities and may become frustrated. With mentoring and education they can confidently serve clients, complete high-quality work, and contribute creative ideas. That makes any employee happy.

3.    The work seems more meaningful

The more employees understand about how one workgroup interrelates with other departments, the more they understand their impact on the organization and the value of their work.

4.     It’s fun!

A creative instructor can incorporate games and team-building activities into educational sessions, making even the driest-seeming topic lively and engaging.  You can offer rewards to celebrate successes (ice cream, anyone?).  We spend a lot of time at work; employees want and need to have a little fun.

5.     Education assistance is a popular perk as it can be expensive

Offering tuition reimbursement helps employees prepare themselves for future opportunities, whether it’s a promotion in your organization or a career move.

After all, as business consultant Rick Kilton, President of RWK Enterprises, Inc.,  points out:

“Here’s a familiar question:  ‘What if I train them and they leave?’

There are two answers:

‘What if you don’t train them?  They will leave.’

Or worse:  ‘What if you don’t train them?  And they stay?’”

Education is the best investment you can make in your employees. And they’ll thank you for it.

About Us
gThankYou, LLC  (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, WI and produces America’s favorite meaningful, affordable and convenient employee gifts.  gThankYou!® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way savvy companies demonstrate commitment to valued employees and customers. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, Turkey or Ham Gift Certificates and Grocery Gift Cards.   Other Favorites include our Ice Cream and Pie Gift Certificates.

What?  Education as recognition?  Unlike some kids that bemoan the beginning of school, most employees see the right educational opportunities as a reward.  And as the New York Times online reports in an article by Teresa Amabile  and Steven Kramer,  authors of “The Progress Principle”,  happier people are likely to work harder.

Being Valued Matters

Decades ago, psychologist Frederick Herzberg theorized that people are motivated most by self achievement, the sense of being valued for what they do, as this article reprint from Harvard Business Review explains. The next strongest motivator is recognition.

Translation:  Show your employees you value them.  They’ll be happier and more productive, and everybody wins.

Employee Engagement

It’s something that’s much needed in today’s workplaces.  The New York Times online article cites the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which has polled over 1,000 adults every day since January 2008.  It shows Americans now feel worse about their jobs—and work environments—than ever before.

The article also has this to say:

“Employee engagement may seem like a frill in a downturn economy. But it can make a big difference in a company’s survival.  In a 2010 study, James K. Harter and colleagues found that lower job satisfaction foreshadowed poorer bottom-line performance.  Gallup estimates the cost of America’s disengagement crisis at a staggering $300 billion in lost productivity annually. When people don’t care about their jobs or their employers, they don’t show up consistently, they produce less, or their work quality suffers.”

What educational opportunities do you offer employees and how do they respond? Let us know!

About Us
gThankYou, LLC  (www.gthankyou.com) is based in Madison, WI and produces America’s favorite meaningful, affordable and convenient employee gifts.  gThankYou!® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way savvy companies demonstrate commitment to valued employees and customers. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, Turkey or Ham Gift Certificates and Grocery Gift Cards.   Other Favorites include our Ice Cream and Pie Gift Certificates.

In her now famous Wall Street Journal essay, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” Yale Professor Chua describes (somewhat tongue in cheek, some argue) how kids in China –  and Korea and India among others – are driven to do so well in school and outperform kids in the U.S., for example.

For these parents, the reward is a good result, notes Chua:

“Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it’s math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more.”

Blogging for ZDNet, Eileen Yu, who believes Chua’s sentiment was somewhat misunderstood, concludes that this kind of “tough love” method of pushing results would probably not work in every workplace:

“…the primary objective of any workplace [should be] to encourage and help employees realize the fullest of their potential, even if it may sometimes mean pushing them to their limits. “

How a manager accomplishes that for each employee is the tricky part. Success can breed success. Getting to the initial win could mean creating an environment that fosters success and rewards achievement. A simple thanks has been proven to get results according to reports including a survey by the staffing firm Accountemps, which found frequent recognition of accomplishments as the top way to reward employees.

Chua’s essay has sparked an important discussion about how to best facilitate  success, which includes fun take-offs like this from Edie Larson posted on Awl titled, “Why Minnesota Mothers Are Doing Pretty Good.” The parenting style can be summed up in this statement by Larson:

“If a Minnesota child gets a B, well, good for them! Room for improvement.”

In my mind, regardless of whether you’re a room-for-improvement style manager or succes- drives-success manager, rewards make a difference. Don’t forget to say thanks, no matter your style.

As another year comes to a close, it’s fitting to look back and share the best information we’ve found in the past year plus, a best practices of corporate gifting of sorts.

1. How to engage employees? Just add dirt! 
2. Gaining worker buy in by offering an office recess.
3. Making Thanks easy by lowering the transaction cost.
4. Timing is everything, except when it comes to workplace giving.
5. What to give: It’s truly the thought that counts.
6. Creating awareness with recognition.
7. Health and happiness through giving.
8. Recognition helps gain competitive advantage.
9. Giving builds customer loyalty.
10. Gifting is the best recruitment and retention tool.

More innovative corporate leaders are recognizing the value of Thanks Equity. You probably won’t find it on any P&L, but it does mean a lot to an organization’s health. Please share with us your stories of how workplace gifting helps your company.

Thanks to a recent New York Times piece, “In Month of Giving, A Healthy Reward,” by Tara Parker-Pope, whose Well columns have this year has become some of my favorite Google Reader picks, I know a lot more about the gifts of giving. During this season, it’s important to be mindful of those rewards.

There are real reasons we feel good giving people gifts, whether they’re gifts of time, talent or a treasured trinket. It’s particularly interesting that scientific studies confirm that giving is, indeed, good for you.

Quoted in the piece, Stephen Post, who wrote “Why Good Things Happen to Good People”  says that giving and helping provides benefits that last years.

“It turns out that giving — far more than receiving — is a surprisingly potent force whose impact reverberates across an entire lifetime, nourishing health and happiness in astonishing ways.”

Post directs the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics at Stony Brook University, which  has compiled evidence of the good of giving in 50 studies.

So, as we near the end of the year – the end of the decade, in fact – and thoughts turn toward incremental ways you can change your daily life for greater happiness, health and good, keep in mind the power behind a simple Thank You and other little ways to include giving in your daily life. You could be the greatest benefactor.

Australian psychologist Timothy Sharp, of the Happiness Institute recently asked 50 people what they consider to be the top three things that contributed to happiness at work. Their answers provide very valuable information to HR managers.

While I won’t rehash all five things Sharp outlines as steps to happiness at work, number three in particular struck me as relevant: Give Thanks

Says Sharp:

“Employees want to be valued as members of a team and organization. But they also want to be told, frequently and appropriately, that they are valued, as people. They want to be thanked and appreciated for their accomplishments. When managers and colleagues openly congratulate employees for their wins or efforts, it makes everyone happier.”

Sharp explains that this response is consistent with a great deal of research into what he terms the “social and emotional benefits of gratitude.” University of California-Davis psychologist Robert Emmons discusses this concept in his book, Thanks!.

He explains gratitude as a way of life, and provides tips on how to practice it in our everyday lives arguing that it enhances our sense of self-worth, while at the same time strengthening social ties. Emmons continues his study of expressing thanks, which he calls the “forgotten factor” in happiness research, saying that it increases the happiness of both giver and receiver.

Sounds like required reading for anyone interested in boosting workplace happiness…and maybe the rest of your life, too.

Rick Kiley is President of gThankYou, LLC, based in Madison, WI.  gThankYou® Certificates of Gratitude™ are one way  savvy companies demonstrate commitment to valued employees. The company is best known for its Turkey Gift Certificates, Ham Gift Certificates, and Grocery Gift Cards.

Thanks to the positive psychology gurus at the University of Pennsylvania, you can measure your level of gratitude. In six simple questions, Dr. Martin Seligman – often credited as the father of positive psychology – offers a tool to test your thanks. (An easy registration is required for this quiz.)

Thanks is key to happiness.

In his own words, Seligman says gratitude amplifies good memories of the past. He offers an exercise in expressing gratitude. Think of it as a way to throw out bad memories to make room for the good.

How does this apply to the workplace? Writing on happiness on the job in her HarvardBusiness.org blog, London-based executive coach Gill Corkindale explains it this way:

“It all comes down to choice, and this is where I believe happiness lies. In choosing — as far as you are able — what you want to do and how you will do it. While not all of us can choose our work and colleagues, we can all choose how we approach things — with an open, optimistic, and positive outlook or with a   frustrated, irritated one. To this end, I suggest you look at the work of positive psychologists such as Martin Seligman and Tal Ben-Shahar, whose course on happiness at Harvard has been inspirational for many students.”

It’s important, today more than ever, to recognize the importance of tools like gratitude to amplify the happiness we all have in our work. This is happening in the most unlikely of places. In England, the British government has appointed economist Richard Layard to the post of “Happiness Czar” to bolster the happiness of its citizens. It’s certainly worthwhile, in our own lives, our own work, and our own organizations, to look at how to be thankful and boost our own happiness quotient.

As regular readers know, here at gThankYou, we’re all about gratitude.  So, when the research is published that supports what we feel in our hearts to be true, we can’t wait to read it.

And, here it is…

University of Washington Marketing Professor Robert Palmatier recently published  the “Role of Customer Gratitude in Relationship Marketing,” and the Journal of Marketing now has it up online.

Palmatier’s paper – cited in a recent New York Times Magazine article on how gratitude can create loyalty in the consumer marketplace – is interesting in lots of ways. It takes a look at this form of relationship marketing through the lens of social science research, explaining how genuine feelings of gratitude among consumers create a greater wallet share for companies. Then, Prof. Palmatier suggests three strategies to leverage customer gratitude.

The gist: reward customers on an individual basis when they most can use the benefit and give customers an opportunity to reciprocate quickly.

Palmatier admits that there’s work yet to be done on how thanks bonds relationships in the marketplace. Perhaps there will be additional studies in the field demonstrating just how the old fashioned practice of saying “thanks” creates goodwill (and better sales, and great employee loyalty) in the marketplace and workplace.

As my father always says, “study hard and learn a lot”!

Again: Generosity Inc. = Gratitude Squared (GI = G x G)

One of the really fascinating presentations in Seattle earlier this month in Seattle revealed the results of a new study on reward programs by Hay Group and WorldatWork.  The study: “Reward Next Practices: The future of reward programs” finds that in the next two to three years 57% of firms plan to increase focus on employee engagement in measuring reward programs. Also, 64 percent will increase focus on the “motivational value of reward programs” in the future.

Here’s what Tom McMullen, U.S. Reward Practice Leader for Hay Group says about these results: “The global downturn has prompted organizations worldwide to shift to an increased focus on how to engage and motivate employees. However, during times when budgets are tight, maintaining an engaged workforce is more difficult than ever. When times are tough, employers are looking for ways to improve engagement – and it’s essential they remember the motivational power of intangible rewards, the role of the line manager in establishing a great work climate and the importance of communicating effectively with employees.”

The study has stirred up commentary from HR bloggers, some of whom question how to go about measuring effective engagement and rewards. In Compensation Force, Ann Bares calls study findings “an interesting piece of news” calling for “some element of balance in our reward metrics – financial versus non-financial, lag versus lead.”

In his Strategic HCM Blog, John Ingham says it’s essential to be clear about intended outcomes first when measuring a reward program.

How are rewards currently measured? The study of 763 diverse companies in 66 countries found that reward program performance metrics weigh heavy on financial performance (71%) using employee engagement (40%) to a lesser extent. In the future, more companies report they plan to focus more on engagement.
Other key findings:

• Almost half, 44 percent, plan to increase their future focus on using reward to reinforce a culture of creativity and innovation.
• Two thirds, 67 percent, will focus more on improving the ability of line managers to effectively manage the overall pay-for-performance relationship with employees, and on the role of line managers in communicating total rewards to employees.
• Key components of the reward programs of the future will include leveraging important non-financial rewards including career and development opportunities, improving work climate and non-financial recognition.