Photo Credit: Carol VanHook https://www.flickr.com/photos/librariesrock/ Creative Commons license
If you could improve employee engagement and reduce turnover without spending any money or time, would you do it? Of course you would! That’s what appreciation can do for you.
A simple comment or a short note expressing your genuine appreciation for something one of your staff has done makes a huge difference. It says you care and that you noticed. It says they matter.
Why don’t we do this more?
Leaders are problem solvers and that means we often focus our attention on what is wrong, what needs to be changed. And so we miss the dozens of small things (and often big things too) that are wonderful and worthy of our appreciation. Widening your focus so that you see things to appreciate changes everything.
Practically speaking, it can be hard to change your focus. If you forget to notice what you appreciate during your busy day, make it a practice to fall asleep making a mental list of all of the small things you appreciate that happened that day, at work or at home.
As you shift your attention to what you appreciate, be prepared for a change in your own point of view. The more you focus on what you appreciate, the better the world will look to you.