National Employee Appreciation Day, is all about a company’s greatest asset, their employees! At My Staff Shop, we believe that every day should be a day where an employee’s contribution is recognised, not just on the first Friday of March each year. Peer-to-peer gratitude is proven to boost morale and build stronger teams. There is a basic human need for recognition. When completing a project or task, we all want to know, “Was that OK?”
There are countless psychological papers proving a link between gratitude and happiness. There is now a strong correlation between giving appreciation and team building in the workplace. Gratitude is a two-way street: receiving gratitude rewards employees for a job well done and, by actively seeking out a reason to praise a colleague, the gratitude giver also gets a psychological lift. Within psychology studies, this is referred to as “Find, Remind, and Bind” which leads to a virtuous cycle of praise & reciprocation that can only benefit the organisation’s morale.
My Staff Shop provides a unique way for organisations’ teams to give each other peer-to-peer acknowledgement, thus fostering strong internal rapport and strength. Fanmail (exclusive to My Staff Shop) is a way for employees to quickly show their appreciation to their colleagues, and for managers to give praise. Fanmail has ready-made templates which are easily customisable for the users.
Fanmail is non-financial and all your employees have total freedom to use when they feel it is appropriate. Because it is free to the user, it’s a valuable tool for human resources and rewards managers who are serious about using Employee Benefits to foster good team spirit.
1. Improve Job Satisfaction
One of the simplest ways for employees to be happy at work is for them to be able to give thanks to each other. In fact, research suggests that employees experience greater job satisfaction “through belonging to a work-place culture that endorses gratitude.”
With a peer-to-peer recognition program in place, employees become more engaged. Colleagues start to see how their position affects the work of others, on both their team, and other teams within the organisation. In the long run, peer-to-peer recognition can even help reduce staff turnover, as 75% of employees say that giving and receiving recognition makes them want to stay at their current organisation longer.
2. Greater Productivity
With peer-to-peer recognition taking place, you may find that employees are more productive, taking fewer sick days and managing deadlines better. You might even see increased engagement with your company’s wellbeing program!
3. Relationships strengthen and grow
Peer-to-peer recognition encourages employees to make deep, personal connections with their team members. This is because gratitude uses a process called “find-remind-bind” that helps create and strengthen our most important relationships. When we regularly recognise our peers, we find new relationships or remind ourselves of existing ones, serving to bind the relationship more closely together.
Peer-to-peer recognition significantly increases the probability of a constructive team culture. Not only that, but peer-to-peer appreciation also strengthens the connection between employees and increases psychological safety. Teams become more cooperative, rather than competitive, when they are able to recognise each other and don’t have to waiting for recognition coming from the top down.
4. Employees and organisations thrive
Gratitude has been found to stimulate pro-social behaviour: those altruistic social behaviours that benefit other people, such as helping, sharing, donating, and volunteering. When people experience gratitude more often, they are more likely to experience pro-social behaviours. As employees recognise each other more and more often, they will start to experience these behaviours as well. Colleagues will become more inclined to help one another out on difficult projects, to share their office supplies, and to give to their community. This can lead to a wonderful cycle of positivity: the more grateful employees feel, the more likely they are to act pro-socially towards their colleagues, which causes them to feel grateful, and on and on as your workplace culture benefits.
Employee Appreciation Day: Saves you time and money
Employees that work in an atmosphere where performance is appreciated are more likely to be more productive and stay in their post longer. Thus earning your organisation more money as well as saving valuable time and money on recruitment training.
In addition to Fanmail, My Staff Shop offers employers many ways to show that they appreciate their employees. From Reward & Recognition which allows a tax-free financial gift, making salaries go further through the discount platform, and so much more. Show your employees they’re top of your list of priorities, give them access to My Staff Shop from as little as 30p month!
If you’re looking for ways to show employees how much you value them, learn more about our extensive rewards program, with plenty of benefits to boost staff morale and incentivise work?
My Staff Shop give all this and so much more. Read our White Paper to discover more or, if you prefer, request a demonstration for yourself now.