Saying “thank you” to your teams improves performance, morale, and talent retention. But did you know that saying “thank you” improves your own efficacy and enjoyment of your leadership role? Healthcare teams provide an excellent example of the benefits of saying “thank you.”
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE IMPROVES PERFORMANCE The Wharton School of Business ran a series of studies to tease out why expressing gratitude to teams improves team performance.[i] Researchers already knew that leaders improve team performance when they say “thank you,” they now wanted to know how this effect works. Before a call team’s shift, their leader thanked them for their impact on the university endowment fund. Afterward, the team made measurably more calls than on other shifts, not just in the shift immediately following the gratitude expressions, but for at least the next week. The team members performed better and this improved the leaders’ bottom line. The study revealed that even though the “thank you” focused on objective performance, and team members felt more confident in their skills after the gratitude expression, this increased confidence did not drive the increased performance. What drove the increased performance was the change in their feeling of connection with their team, leader, and organization. They felt more invested in the team and their leader, and more interested in contributing to the bigger picture. The improved sense of connection is what improved performance. Think of it as your team not so much liking being informed of their accomplishments, as liking that you recognize and appreciate their accomplishments. Knowing they are good at their work is nice. Being seen and recognized for it builds that motivating sense of connection. Thanking your teams improves productivity because it increases their connection to the team, to you, and to your organization – a great payoff for a well-placed “thank you.” EXPRESSING GRATITUDE IMPROVES TALENT RETENTION Improved connections on teams also improves talent retention. Consider healthcare, where talent retention is a growing concern. As a general rule, healthcare professionals come to their jobs already committed to their purpose of improving quality of life for others. When healthcare leaders thank their teams, they build their teams’ commitment to each other and build that sense of family that keeps people in their roles for years. When explaining to me why she stayed at the same office for decades, Mary, a receptionist with a Hoag Hospital practice group in Newport Beach, California, shares, “These people are family to me.” Long haul employees often share this sentiment. They must believe in the cause, too, but it is the people that keep them there for the long run. When you improve someone’s connection to the team and the organization, they will stay on longer and find more reasons to stay. Improved patient outcomes and talent retention benefit your performance as leader. But wait, there’s more! GRATEFUL LEADERS ARE BETTER, HAPPIER LEADERS When you thank your team, you experience boosts in brain activity and chemistry that improve your executive function, data analysis, and cognitive processing.[ii] This improved focus makes you a better, more focused leader. As you become more effective for your team, you improve their performance. Additionally, similar to how receiving your gratitude makes your team feel more connected to you, expressing your gratitude to them helps you develop a stronger connection to your team. You develop a deeper affection for your team and share in their successes. Their wins become your wins on an emotional level, not just an objectively productive level. Healthcare offers a unique opportunity to build connective bonds within teams. Lives are directly improved, even saved, with better patient outcomes. When a team revives and stabilizes a patient who has coded, or diagnoses and treats a dangerous condition or disease, the emotional wins can be big. Leaders who say “thank you” during and after these moments create a work environment that can feel like the most important part of their lives, rather than the most demanding part. Activate your brain function, boost relationship connections, boost your joy and efficacy. These impacts make you enjoy your job more and become better at it, which improves your own “retention rate.” You will be willing to stay on longer and continue to maximize your success in your leadership role. YOUR BENEFITS EXPAND BEYOND WORK Improving your current leadership role helps your long-term success and life beyond your immediate work role in 3 ways. 1. Saying thank you spirals up your options. Since your current position improves, other opportunities must be better to entice you to leave. This increases your stability and means you will only take another role when it adds real value to your life, as opposed to just getting you out of a stale or negative position. Enticements must be better when what you have is positive. 2. Saying thank you spirals up your value. Better enticements come your way when you are succeeding where you are. June, an oil executive considering a team member’s promotion, shared her philosophy with me, “People only get promoted to another job when they are doing their current job well.” Since you develop better patient outcomes and a more devoted team, you become more marketable and your opportunities will improve. 3. General Benefits of Saying “Thank You.” In addition to making you better at your job and happier with it, thanking your teams creates additional long-term benefits. Lower stress, better sleep, better physical health, and improved relationships impact every area of your life.[iii] Expressing gratitude revives your original joy in your work. Enjoying your job more changes how you show up at work. It also changes how you show up at home. Before long, you will carry this new leadership skill of saying “thank you” to your personal life, improving performance and relationships at home and in your community. A FREE PRESCRIPTION The “thank you prescription” is free, easy to execute, and provides immediate and long-term benefits to your teams and yourself. If saying “thank you” sounds too mushy for you, start small by thanking for a specific outcome or efficient project management. Once you start, you will learn how the simple task of thanking others truly enriches your work life and relationships. Over time, you will see that you are doing it for yourself as much as for the person deserving gratitude. In healthcare, the opportunities to thank teams are plentiful:
When you thank your teams, you build stronger connection with them. They work harder and enjoy it more, staying on longer. Your work becomes less of a burden and more of a joy. You become better at your work while enjoying it and your teams more, and this positive effect spills into your personal life. Most importantly, thanking your teams revives that deep sense of purpose that drew you to your work in the first place. [i] Adam M. Grant, A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2010 98(6) 946055. Accessed November 23, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20515249/ [ii] Jane Taylor Wilson, Brightening the Mind: The Impact of Practicing Gratitude on Focus and Resilience in Learning. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Vol. 16, No. 4, August 2016, pp. 1-13. Accessed November 23, 2024. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1112485.pdf [iii] Geyze Diniz, et al., The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal Einstein (Sao Paulo), Aug. 11, 2023. [p. 21?] Accessed November 23, 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37585888/
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Megan Mayer
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