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No, thank you.
While most Americans hustling the corporate grind feel underpaid, overworked and burned out — their oblivious managers seem to believe they’re doing a fine job of praising them.
The official term for that disparity is the ever-widening “gratitude gap.”
According to a recent Gallup poll, 60 percent of managers feel they successfully recognize their team’s efforts and contributions — with only 35 percent actually feeling appreciated.
“One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is assuming that appreciation is understood,” Chairwoman of LeadHERship Global and best-selling author Linda Fisk told The Post.
“Gratitude has to be expressed, not implied,” she added. “If a leader values someone’s contribution but never says it clearly, the employee may never feel truly seen.”
And research shows that making people feel seen through an occasional attaboy goes a long way toward building goodwill and loyalty.
A Gallup-Workhuman study found that employees who felt validated at work were 45 percent less likely to leave within two years.
Further, those who reported getting valuable feedback about their performance from higher-ups were five times as likely to stay engaged.
“When employees feel genuinely appreciated, they are more likely to stay committed and connected to the organization’s purpose,” said Fisk
Fisk says gratitude shouldn’t be reserved for special occasions but rather part of an organization’s rhythm.
“People rarely quit over one missed thank-you. They quit over the slow accumulation of feeling unseen,” she said
While gratitude plays a critical role in employee retention, it also has a significant bearing on burnout.
According to a study published earlier this year, 80 percent of employees feel their jobs are responsible for their poor mental health, and almost 40 percent of respondents have quit a job because of it.
This is critical to consider, as research continues to show that burnout lowers productivity and increases turnover.
“Gratitude doesn’t need a program or a budget. It needs proximity, consistency, and presence,” workplace expert Jeff Civillico told The Post. “Say it in person. Then say it again next week.”
If you are a higher-up unsure how to proceed with praise, consider that only 12 percent of employees say they have been asked how they would like to be recognized.
Others underscore that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to recognition.
“Some people are energized by public praise, while others find it draws unwanted attention or pressure and would rather have a manager simply protect their time or workload the following week as the ‘thank you,” Thalia-Maria Tourikis, a certified health coach and burnout prevention and recovery expert at Headway, told The Post.
Thus, if recognition is a love language, the most effective overlords learn to speak it fluently.
“Leaders who only have one recognition setting will keep missing most of their team,” said Tourikis
While expressions of praise may be individual, employees are universally looking for specificity.
“If your last piece of praise could have applied to anyone on the team, it counted for no one,” said Civillico.
Translation: a “good job, everyone” on the team Slack channel ain’t going to cut it.
Civillico’s advice is rooted in real findings: a study on how gratitude affects workplace morale found that generic praise was ineffective, whereas personalized appreciation was highly valued by employees.
Fisk agrees that specificity is what turns praise into true affirmation.
“‘Saying, ‘The way you handled that client issue protected the relationship and reflected our values’ is far more meaningful than ‘great job’ as it connects the person’s contribution to the impact it created.”
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