Your employees will be happier
A well-executed 'thank you' to your employees can make a big difference. Not only do employees who feel valued show greater job satisfaction, are willing to work more hours, are better at developing positive relationships and actively work towards the company's goals: Employees who feel valued are also happier.

And happy employees are what you should strive for. Happy people are more successful in a wide range of areas:

• Their marriages are happier.
• They are better at making friends.
• They make more money.
• They are healthier.
• Their work performance is better.

And if you are happy first, you enter a positive spiral, where happiness leads to success, which leads to happiness, which leads to success, etc. ...

Or with the words of a researcher:

”[…] because happy people experience frequent positive moods, they have a greater likelihood of working actively toward new goals while experiencing those moods.”

You will be healthier
Saying thank you is not only good for those who are thanked. It is also good for the one who is grateful. It is illustrated i.a. of attempt, where a group of test subjects were asked to keep a gratitude diary. Once a week they had to write down five things they were grateful for. Another group had to write down things they were unhappy about.

After ten weeks, the grateful were an average of 25 % happier than the "grumpy", reported fewer health problems and exercised an average of 1.5 hours more.

Your marriage will be happier
Dr. John Gottman from the University of Washington has worked with couples and their marriage for many years. And over the years has worked out a method which means that after observing a couple's conversation for a few minutes, he can predict with 90 % accuracy whether their marriage will last or not. According to dr. Gottman's formula for a happy marriage is that the ratio of negative to positive relationships should be 1:5. Every time you have one negative experience, it takes 5 positive ones to cancel it out.

And guess what one of the things you can do to strengthen your marriage is? Say thank you to your partner.

Skab en taknemmelighedkultur

If gratitude is something you want to do more of in your workplace, you can work on create a culture, where saying thank you is a natural part of your everyday life. You can do this by:

1. Help others develop. Research shows, that 70 % of employees feel valued in their jobs when they are given the opportunity to grow and develop. This can be via promotions, but also other opportunities such as training, new interesting projects, participation in expert groups or new areas of responsibility.
2. Involve your employees. Your employees feel valued when they get the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes, problem-solving and use their skills for the benefit of the organization. Actually shows American research, that up to 63 % of employees believe that the opportunity to use their skills is the biggest source of job satisfaction.
3. Support good companionship. A good relationship between colleagues can lead to greater job satisfaction, engagement and better performance. You can e.g. create by encouraging social activities that have nothing to do with work.