It's Thanksgiving season; the time of year where we send out e-mails and cards about how thankful we are to our employees, friends, and family. It's a feel-good week and we spend part of our time reflecting on how we got here and who helped us along the way. But what about the other weeks of the year? How often will we show gratitude and appreciation for those around us two weeks or two months from now?

Showing your employees that you treasure their hard work and efforts and that they are valuable members of your team helps increase employee satisfaction. As we've discussed in previous articles, there are many, many benefits for employee satisfaction other than more smiles around the office. So why do so many leaders only show how much they care about their teams when they're reminded to do so?

If something isn't part of your normal routine, it's very likely that you're going to forget to do it. To keep the benefits of happier and more fulfilled employees all year round, here are some ways that you can remind yourself to show your team you care:

Put a meeting on your calendar once a week to point out something spectacular that someone on your team did
Call out team members for demonstrating your core values in your team/company meetings
Send an e-mail first thing when you get into the office or first thing after lunch to an employee that you believe really helps drive the company towards its goals
Compliment someone on how they handled a customer meeting or e-mail response whenever you notice it
Ask your employees how their weekend was or their day is going when you see them in the hallway
Recognize employees for reaching team goals in the company newsletter

Even just asking someone how their day is going shows them that you care about how they're doing. When recognizing your team, you won't want to only call people out for fire-fighting, because in an ideal world, there would never be any company fires to fight. Be sure to include employees who are doing their jobs well and exceeding expectations. Not only will you find more and more team members demonstrating the traits you wish to see in your company, you will be also more satisfied because showing gratitude increases happiness. Just like if you're looking for problems, you'll find plenty - if you're looking for things to be proud of, lots of examples will be seen. Reach out to me to discuss how you can add ways to show your team that you appreciate them into your busy schedule