The science of thank-you.

The thank-you economy is alive and jiving in the workplace. Formal recognition program in place or not, gratitude is likely being shared around on the daily between your employees. Whether it’s a little pat on the back for helping with a project, or a big heartfelt expression of thanks for something much larger, this gratitude has a lasting effect on your people and your culture.

While we all know that handing out thanks makes the recipient feel valued, studies show that the effect on the person giving thanks is just as powerful.

When you are recognised for your achievements, no matter if it was a little win or home run, you are flooded with the ‘feel-good’ factor, thanks to a rush of dopamine. Dopamine controls the reward centre in your brain and is sometimes referred to as the happiness chemical. But research shows that giving gratitude also has lasting positive effects for the person giving the recognition.

In one experiment, leading gratitude researcher Robert Emmons from the University of California and Mark McCullough from the University of Miami, looked at the impact of gratitude on your overall well-being. Over a ten week period, they randomly assigned participants to one of three control groups based on writing down either things they were grateful for, concerns and worries or neutral life events. They also recording their mood, physical activity and outlook on life for the duration of the experiment.

After ten weeks, the researchers found that the group who were focussing on the good things felt 25% better than the other group. They were more physically active, felt better about life and were generally more optimistic. They found that giving thanks really does have benefits.

Another study, led by Joel Yong, a professor at Indiana University, looked at how gratitude changes your brain. He found that writing letters of gratitude had a positive mental impact for participants for up to twelve weeks after the period in which they were written. On looking deeper at the research results, he also found another interesting insight.

The ‘grateful’ participants were more likely to pay it forward, even well after the period of being actively grateful had concluded. These participants gave more and were more sensitive to others showing gratefulness.

The act of thanking someone or something had a long-lasting impact for participants.

It does not have to be a grand gesture of thanks to have an impact either. Adam M Grant from the University of Pennsylvania and Francesca Gino from the University of North Carolina found that a little thanks goes a long way. In their research, they found that a simple thank you not only gave the recipient a greater sense of self-worth and confidence, but there was a halo effect of increased trust between colleagues created through the act of gratitude.

Based on these studies, while gratitude will likely be shared in every workplace, creating an environment where the importance of recognition is highlighted from the top down, where those that don’t recognise well are encouraged to do it as a daily habit, will have a profound impact on your business.