Last week in my Vistage meeting, one of my colleagues brought up that she is hearing about lots of employees who feel unappreciated, and she asked our group what we thought was going on.
Back when we had paper checks that we handed out to employees every Friday or every other Friday, the boss would go around the office and hand each employee their check. The boss would look the employee in the eye, shake their hand and say “thank you, employee for all the work you did this week! I so appreciate you!” or something along those lines. Right then, the employee mentally connected the paycheck that they received to their performance that pay period.
Now we have direct deposit.
The employee receives their pay in their account, which is convenient, but it eliminates that crucial appreciation conversation that they had with their manager. There is a big disconnect from their money to their performance.
One way to change this situation is to bring back the Friday thank you’s. Every time your employees get paid, make it a habit to go to their desk and say “today is payday, and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you working for me. I couldn’t do it without you.”
Simple gratitude for them as employees should be associated with their paycheck. It isn’t hard, and it matters to your people.
POWER THOUGHT: Use payday as an opportunity to connect with your people and express your gratitude.