The Power of Gratitude: Why Expressing It As A CEO Matters And How To Do It

As a CEO, your leadership style sets the tone for your entire organization. Whether you realize it or not, your every word and action are being watched and emulated by your employees. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you’re setting the right example. One of the most important qualities you can model is gratitude, which extends to your employees and the work they do. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the importance of expressing gratitude as a CEO and provide some tips on how to do it effectively.

Expressing gratitude
1. Creates a culture of appreciation - Showing appreciation and gratitude consistently can have a massive impact on your company culture. When employees feel valued and appreciated, they are more likely to stay engaged, motivated, and loyal. Studies have shown that employees who feel valued are more likely to go the extra mile and work harder than those who don't. Showing gratitude fosters a culture of appreciation, which creates a more positive and productive workspace.

A recent study by Reward Gateway found that 60% of employees would rather "work for a company that had a culture where people were praised and thanked regularly for doing good work, than for a company that paid 10% more but offered no praise or thanks."

It’s about more than just salary - Compensation is important, there's no denying that. But there are other factors that go into job satisfaction: feeling valued and appreciated being one of the most important ones.
Tip: Expressing gratitude for their work can often be more meaningful than any pay increase. Taking the time to acknowledge a job well done or offering sincere thanks can go a long way in making employees feel valued.

2. Boosts employee engagement- Expressing gratitude as a CEO can also help boost employee engagement. A survey conducted by Glassdoor found that 80 percent of employees said they would work harder for an appreciative boss. When employees feel appreciated, they are much more likely to take pride in their work and feel more connected to their team and the company as a whole. Ultimately, this sense of engagement can lead to better job performance, increased productivity, and more success as a whole.Tip: Sending out monthly or quarterly anonymous employee surveys is a great way measure employee satisfaction and know if you and your management team are doing enough. You can send these through your employee performance and engagement platforms (i.e. Leapsome, Lattice),  Survey Monkey, or other survey tools.

3. Doesn't take long - Showing gratitude as a CEO doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as a quick “thank you” or “great job.” However, there are some best practices.
Tip: Make sure to be specific with your appreciation. Saying “good job” is nice but saying “I appreciate the way you handled that difficult situation” is much more meaningful.

Tip: Make sure to express gratitude frequently, not just when something big happens. At Connected Accounting, we use Slack to communicate and our favorite Slack tool is "Tacos". We send a taco emoji to anyone who helped out, embodied our values, went above and beyond, etc. The tool tracks our tacos and each time we hit a milestone (i.e. 500 tacos given out), we send out gift cards for employees to get a Tuesday Taco meal or enjoy a half-day off.

Tip: Make sure it’s genuine. People can sniff out insincerity from a mile away.

Expressing gratitude shouldn’t be something that is overlooked. The benefits it can bring to your company culture, employee engagement, and ultimately your bottom line are significant. As a CEO, it’s important to remember that you’re setting the tone for your entire organization. Lead by example and make sure gratitude is a part of your leadership style.