Be Sure to Give Some Heartfelt Thanks to Your Employees

By Deb Boelkes

The holiday season is always a great time to infuse a little WOW into your team members’ lives and strengthen your workplace culture. As my special thanks to you for your continued support, here are some of my favorite ways to show gratitude to all those team members who have been through an especially challenging year.

As the holiday season approaches, most managers start looking for ways to show their teams they care. Yes, that’s what bonuses are for. But cash gifts aside, there are plenty of other ways—more meaningful ways— to show your team members that you really do appreciate all their hard work and dedication, especially after all they’ve been through in this crazy, upside down pandemic year.  

Demonstrating a true sense of heartfelt gratitude is a key part of creating a WOW factor workplace. One of the greatest gifts you can give your team is a culture so great that they can’t imagine working any place else. It all comes down to giving the kind of support, encouragement, guidance, and compassion each team member needs to flourish and thrive.

Best of all, building a WOW workplace culture can be the gift that keeps on giving month after month. When employees know you care, they will be engaged and loyal to you, in return. What’s more, putting employees first can inspire them to give their best efforts—which will drive greater customer loyalty and ultimately drive higher profits.

The holidays are one of the easiest times to ‘wow’ your team. Even after a year like this one, that for some may have been a real slog to get through, spirits are generally higher as we enter the final stretch. Take advantage of this holiday mood to strengthen your relationships. Here are just a few ways to show your team you care this holiday season:

Do everything you can to make the holidays easier for one and all. Show everyone on our team that you care about them by simplifying their lives, at least for the time being.

No question, life can get busy and stressful at this time of year, even without all the added hassle and strain of increased COVID-19 lockdowns. Doing even little things to reduce some of the pressure can mean more than you may realize.

Do what you can to keep schedules flexible and light. Announce the holiday schedule well in advance so everyone can plan. Let people step away from their work a few hours early. Close down, if possible, for an extra day or two in advance of the holiday.  This will show everyone that you see them not just as cogs in a machine but as human beings with real lives and important family obligations. 

This can work even better—and can build even more WOW into your workplace—when you make a concerted effort all year long to understand what really matters to every team member.

WOW them with some grace. If an employee realizes at the last minute that he or she needs to leave work in the middle of the day to pick up a neighbor’s child from school or deliver a special holiday gift to a teacher who has gone above and beyond, let them. Say, “Oh, it’s fine and no need to come back in. Enjoy your afternoon.” These are the kinds of things that can make a lasting impression and build greater loyalty.

Don’t send a bland corporate holiday card. Instead, share a heartfelt (and customized) thank-you message. Successful leaders, heartfelt leaders, make sure the people who work for, with, and even above them know that their contributions are appreciated. A heartfelt thank you can have more power than you think.

Be sure to give meaningful credit where it’s due. Be specific when listing the reasons you value their efforts and the very special ways they make each day a WOW experience for you and for others.

Help team members connect with the organization’s purpose and meaning. When the workplace is infused with purpose and meaning, people don’t just go through the motions.

The holidays are the perfect time to help people connect with their higher calling. Help team members understand how their efforts touch people’s lives. Hold a little holiday gathering, even if it’s simply on Webex or Zoom, to share an example or two that might illustrate this. Maybe read a thank-you letter from a customer or, better yet, invite a customer to speak about how your organization made their lives better.

Declare a moratorium on after-hours emails for the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. In conducting 360 degree reviews of CEOs, one of the biggest complaints I’ve heard from their employees is that they resent getting emails from the boss on weekends or late at night. Emails from a boss inevitably make team members feel they must respond immediately, even when the boss says the issue can wait until the next business day.

A truly heartfelt gift to your team would be for you to declare—for the last six weeks of the year, while most everyone is juggling added family obligations—email-free evenings and weekends .

If you feel absolutely compelled to write an email after normal business hours, go ahead and write it, but save it as a draft. Hold off until 8:00 AM on the next business day to hit “send”. This is one small way to make a huge difference—by giving team members their personal time back.

Give the gift of positive year-end feedback. Take advantage of the holiday cheer to infuse even more joy and inspiration into your organization. Send employees off to their holiday festivities on the right foot so they can enjoy their holiday break.

A great way to do this is to hold a year-end review with each one and focus only on what the employee is doing right.  Let them know that you believe in them. Better yet, ask them to think about ways that you can help make next year even better for them.

Be sure the tone of your message is friendly, upbeat, encouraging, heartfelt, and most of all, appreciative.  When employees feel supported and appreciated, they will give you their best efforts.

Best of all, showing your heartfelt gratitude will not only pay dividends to you, it will strengthen your workplace culture and improve life for your team members, your suppliers, and your customers.