Your Paycheck is Your “Thank You!” – But is it really?

While I am no expert on leadership, although I did take two years in a Doctoral program learning about nothing but Transformational Leadership. I can tell you that the thinking outlined in this article is not only outdated but it needs to be completely deleted from managers minds in today's workforce. Recognition is such a huge thing for employees, and to be honest I cannot express this enough. Saying something as simple as “Thank You” can change an employee’s work ethic, dedication, and re-route their entire mindset about their job!

Shocking I know, let me tell you a story…

A long time ago I worked for a company called Fasteners. It was your basic tool, nut and bolt company, and I got hired to work in the office. I did inventory control, accounting, invoicing, time-cards, sales, end of day balancing, receiving freight, and even did deliveries. I was pretty much an employee who could do anything you asked, and I did my best. One day I was working a bit late and my boss said, “Hey, thanks for all your hard work today, I really appreciate it!”

I went home that night and could not wait to get back to work the next day. I was excited and all I wanted to do was put 110% more into my next day at work! It was kind of like a drug! All I wanted to do was my best for this guy, so I could hear “Thank you” again! Now let me be clear, it didn’t give me a big head, I didn’t think I deserved it, honestly, I didn’t think too much about it at all except – THAT WAS AWESOME!?All he did was recognize that I was doing something good and he said, “Thank you.” That was it! It was recognition that I was doing a good job, that’s all!

How simple is that?

Now keep in mind I had this job a very long time ago, and I can STILL remember the feeling I got when my boss said that to me! Think about how much impact that has? Ponder this for just a moment, almost 20 years ago and I can still feel the pride I felt in my job and in my work that day, simply because someone noticed I was doing it!

Now let’s move up to 10 years and look at another moment and a comment that sticks out to me. I had a supervisor who told me, “Why should I say thank you to you for the work you’re doing, you got paid didn’t you? Your paycheck is your thank you!” Now this invokes an entirely different feeling. One of defeat and drain of all motivation. This woman did not own the company, she didn’t write my checks, and if I remembered correctly I was the one working through my lunches and breaks to get the job done in addition to busting my ass for those paychecks, what exactly did she do?

This has such a negative impact on your employees. Pride and possibly old ways of thinking are the only reason why someone would say this, and they become the main reason why an employee can go from a top performer to someone who doesn’t even want to come into work. She killed all my motivation and drive in just a matter of minutes. I eventually left that job after 5 years, simply because after that conversation I felt like nothing I did was ever good enough and it didn’t matter anyways, so why stay? I was a top performer at that job, and I had a new job in two weeks and was gone. They lost someone who could have stayed there a very long time, I worked ridiculously hard, and I was honestly interested in a future with the company.

Not that it matters to some employers/ employees as some believe that all things are replaceable, but I tend to have more frugal thinking. If you already have something that works great why replace it, or put yourself in a position to lose it??

Now prepare yourself, I’m about to blow your mind!

When you go out to eat and the waitress brings your food, do you say thank you?

When someone holds a door open for you, do you say thank you?

When someone lets you go in front of them at the store, do you say thank you?

When they hand you your coffee at Starbucks, do you say thank you?

With all these moments in your day, and all the “Thank you” experiences that you voluntarily, and more than likely “unknowingly” hand out to strangers, why wouldn’t you say this to someone that you see every day? This is someone that you work with, and who spends 40 hours a week (or more) working hard for you? I don’t know about you, but I am exhausted at the end of the day. I have two screens up, about 25 (or more) different windows and tabs open, calls incoming and outgoing to customers, decisions to make, meetings to attend, tasks to complete, and the list goes on and on and on!

Two of the simplest words that we use daily, yet some mangers refuse to lower themselves to the level of telling an employee thank you. Something is seriously wrong here! We need to fix this!

What is better? An employee that loves coming to work, wants to work hard, wants to put all their effort into their job or an employee who feels like their presence means nothing and goes to seek fulfillment elsewhere from someone who might actually notice they are there and working?

Now I don’t blame the managers that follow this type of belief because it is most likely a learned behavior. Many of us have thoughts and ideas set in stone and handed down from our parents beliefs and they were handed down by their parents and so on and so forth. This really isn’t anything new, most opinions and information that we posses are based on what we have learned from our family and what we are introduced to while we are young.?Things we are told become embedded into our minds as truths and we go forth out into the world set up with a whole closet full of ideas and opinions that we really don’t even know we have, nor why we believe in them so much!

For example, when I was little my Grandmother used to tell me to put butter on burns that I obtained in the kitchen. I did this for years and until one day I sat and thought about what was in butter. Basically, cow’s milk, animal fat and salt. How in the hell is that supposed to fix my burn? I had to think for myself, re-route my brain from what I was taught and learn to go take care of my injury the right way. Now, nothing wrong with what she taught me, she was taught from her mother, and her mother from hers, and all the way back.

This is exactly how we learn things; however, it is our responsibility to try to learn new things and to find a more advanced way to discover a different answer. Depending on "old ways" and "inherited thought" is what can keep someone in the dark ages. You need to make sure you are open to learning new ideas and go seek the information to find a solution to problems that may arise. You must take all things into consideration and try to change. Our world is dynamic and if you remain in the thinking of your forefathers you will most likely find yourself frustrated as you try to navigate your way around the people of different generations.

Before you think, “You’re getting paid, why should I say thank you!” Take into consideration a very young me who can still remember the impact my boss had on my behavior over 20 years ago. Seriously, THAT is impressive! I can remember how that made me feel and the pride I felt simply by remembering that conversation. I would say that was extremely impactful leadership! Being a leader is more than meeting the bottom line and making sure your numbers look good. It’s also a voyage for you and your employees. Brian Tracy once said, “Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.”

Now if you can make that happen by simply saying “Thank you” isn’t that worth it?