When was the last time you said thank you?

Anyone who has met me or listened to me at a speaking event knows I’m a passionate person. For example, I’m passionate about giving people opportunities to share good times with those that matter to them: this is the passion that drives RedBalloon. I’ve said before how much of an honour it is to be part of people’s happiest, most thrilling, and special moments.
But I also believe that these “good times” shouldn’t just be reserved for weekends or special occasions. If I had my way, every day would feature countless opportunities for happiness and meaning.
Which leads me to my second passion: creating happy workplaces where people do meaningful work. We spend so many waking hours of each week at work: if you’re awake for 16 hours a day and work an 8 hour day, it means you spend at least half your life there. So if you spend your time at work feeling stressed, powerless, devalued or simply counting down until the weekend, you’re spending half your life wishing you were somewhere else. What an (unnecessary!) waste!
Making our workplaces better is so much easier than people think it is! Imagine a workplace where you were happier. Where the work you did was meaningful. Where you were more productive because you were more motivated. A business that created that environment would ultimately be more successful, right?
So here’s a tip from someone who has been in business for a while:
One really simple thing we can all do is recognise each other. Improving how we feel about and do our work is as simple as saying thank you for a job well done. It’s as easy – and cheap! – as seeing and acknowledging when someone does a great job.
Think about the last time someone said “thanks” to you for something that you achieved or provided. I bet you felt great. I bet you felt connected; like you did something meaningful with your time, and that you were part of something positive. And I bet that made you want to do that “something good” again.
Imagine feeling that way everyday!
I am passionate about creating good places to work because I think it’s that simple. RedBalloon is not a massive business; we don’t have big budgets to spend on fancy offices or employee incentives and commission. But we do know how to recognise our people and that simple thing gives meaning to the work they do every day. I think that’s played a huge part in creating an award-winning company culture we are all proud of, and want to contribute to.
I want to empower other businesses to do the same thing with their people, and that’s why I’ve invested in RED – Recognise Every Day, and our flagship Redii recognition software. Redii makes recognising your team easy. It makes employee recognition and reward affordable and available to even small and medium businesses. You don’t need to be corporate enterprise to create a company culture that empowers your people to do their best work. All you need is the desire and opportunity to thank, nominate and reward your people (or peers) often.
So I encourage you to have a look at Redii recognition software – you can even sign up and try it for free.
I’m excited about this new product and the team at RED because they are people who are just as passionate as I am about helping businesses – no matter the size or history – bring the best out of their people.
Every successful business is built by the hard work of the people who contributed. Have you said thank you to those people who are helping you succeed? If you haven’t said thanks recently, then do make a point to say it today.
And if you need help, the team at RED are there to help you transform your workplace from average to awesome.
Try Redii today – and let me know your thoughts.