Public Recognition Is A Greater Driver Of Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is a collective belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. It’s defined as “being able to show and employ one’s self without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status or career”.

It is pretty clear that appreciation is good for employee engagement, motivation, and retention. Employee recognition and appreciation can also build a distinctive organizational culture by building relationship capital that strengthens trust and commitment in employee relationships.

Probing at a deeper level, what are the psychological effects concerning thankfulness?

“Researchers randomly divided university fund-raisers into two groups. One group made phone calls to solicit alumni donations in the same way that they always had. The second group — assigned to work on a different day — received a pep talk from the director of annual giving, who told the fund-raisers she was grateful for their efforts. During the following week, the university employees who heard her message of gratitude made 50% more fund-raising calls than those who did not.”

Alex Korb Ph.D. writes, “Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a virtuous cycle.”

Moreover, these “brain encouragements” can have extraordinary positive effects on the work environment and also the employee’s work/life balance. Displaying appreciation can boost a person’s wellness, produce better sleep habits, boost metabolism, and lower stress. This directly affects performance and employee engagement. By thanking employees, you’re not only boosting performance and engagement but their well-being and health as well.

The Positive Psychology Program defines prosocial as “promoting other’s well being usually through altruistic acts.” By implementing gratitude into a firm’s culture, employees are more inclined to share their positive perceptions with others; whether it’s helping out with a project or taking the time to observe and recognize those that have gone the extra mile and/or do the right thing.

Finally, as previously discussed, the significant psychological effect of appreciation and gratitude is the happiness and other emotions immediately felt whether we are giving or benefiting from. Gratitude builds relationship capital. creates good feelings, positive memories, higher self-esteem, feeling more relaxed and more optimistic.

All of these emotions spark a “giving first” and “we’re all in this together” mentality in the company, which results in helping your organization be more successful. Plus, the dopamine effect will encourage a continuous and virtuous cycle of social recognition if every person participates. All of these emotions, plus many more, are what most employers want out of their people to create a more cohesive team.

Now that you have a better awareness on how significant appreciation and gratitude are on a personal perspective and how it directly affects the work environment, create an appreciation and social recognition plan that aligns your organization’s purpose, values, mission, culture and most critically, something all employees can participate in and benefit from.

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