After graduating from college, I started my engineering career in a small company in Silicon Valley. I quickly learned the pressure points and demands of the sales cycle.
The VP of Sales expected high churn of exceptional products so his team could boost sales. We felt the same pressure from the division managers. With the demands we placed upon ourselves already in addition to the department heads, we felt triple the tension and stress. We met our goals, on target and launched a new product that was a hit in the marketplace.
We were thrilled and jubilant, but not as much as our VP of Sales. While we received a small bonus from the division that was nice to get, the sales VP loaded us all into his van early on a Friday afternoon, and took us to a nearby ski resort for the weekend and paid for the whole event.
Needless to say, we all remember the ski trip more than anything else and never complained about the demands from the sales team again. In fact we worked even harder.
A survey by the John Templeton Foundation found that 94% of men and 96% of women believe that a grateful boss is more likely to be successful. In the case of our sales VP, this was what happened.
When a manager doesn’t have time to notice the small contributions of team members, there’s less reason to donate the extra energy to help out. In fact, only 18% of the people surveyed felt that a grateful boss was weak.
Since so few people express gratitude in the workplace, it's a wonderful opportunity to display a trait that sets you apart and has a real impact, even potentially on your success. Eighty-one percent of the people from the survey said they would work harder based on gratitude alone.
Since it's practiced so seldom, most aren’t aware of how to do it or when to do it. Treatmo is an easy tool to use to offer gratitude with very little effort. Simply treat a colleague or employee to fresh juice or food at a location near the company or that can be shipped for them to enjoy at their convenience.
Send a note with your treat and tell them how important to the team they are. It will go a long way towards building great relationships with your team and overall success in the best way possible.
Treatmo Co-Founder, Spiro Zefferys. Loves hiking, cooking and vegan food. He's a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and has worked throughout Asia and Europe as a product engineer.