“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John F. Kennedy.

I watched a TV series recently where bosses of big companies went undercover and worked in various parts of their companies. It gave them the opportunity to talk to the grass roots and find out what conditions they work in, how they felt about working for the company and the service they provided.

In one episode, the boss of a food company was very emotional and upset to discover that some of his employees didn’t feel valued. He took this personally, as it was a company he had started from scratch and developed into one with a turnover in excess of £100m per annum.

The episode reminded me about some experiments that showed the improvement in productivity when people feel valued.

The series of experiments took place in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s at Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne. They became known as the “Hawthorne Effect” and they marked a change in thinking about work and productivity.

The experiments established that the performance of employees is influenced by their surroundings and by the people that they are working with as much as by their individual talents and innate abilities. They were conducted under the supervision of Elton Mayo, an Australian-born sociologist who eventually became a professor of industrial research at Harvard Business School.

The original purpose of the experiments was to study the effects of physical conditions on productivity. Two groups of workers in the Hawthorne factory were used in the experiments.

Initially they involved a dramatic change to the lighting in the work area for one group. The lighting remained unchanged for the other group. The researchers found that the productivity of the more highly illuminated workers increased much more than that of the other group.

Other changes were made to working conditions including working hours and rest periods. Productivity showed signs of improvement every time a change was made and got better even when the lights were dimmed again. When the experiments finished, productivity at the factory was at its highest level and staff absenteeism had reduced.

The experimenters concluded that the fact that someone was concerned about the workers conditions and gave them the opportunity to discuss changes before they were implemented had the biggest impact on productivity as opposed to changes in physical conditions (i.e. the change to lighting).

I believe that this story demonstrates the importance of rewarding and recognising people’s contributions.

It’s a priority if you lead a business or a team to ensure colleagues feel valued and good about themselves. A genuine thank you and expressing appreciation cost nothing and can have a massive positive impact. Whilst it’s important in working environments, it also has equal significance in our personal relationships.

This week, why not take a few moments to reflect and consider if you need to show greater appreciation for the contributions of others.

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk