The Science of Appreciation

**SPEAKER_1** (0:04)
The Bliss Business Podcast, the show about empathy, connection, and consciousness in business. Today's episode is brought to you by Zero Company, your paid search, social media, and programmatic ad experts.

**Stephen Sakach** (0:17)
Hello, and welcome back to the show. Today, we're talking about the science of appreciation in the workplace.
That thing your boss thinks they're doing when they say, good job, what's your name again? That kind of thing, right? So I'm Stephen Sakach, here once again with Tullio Siragusa and Ash Maher. Hey, guys.
Hey. So appreciation, gratitude, recognition, these are powerful emotional experiences. They have significant physical effects on us. So I want to dive into the neuroscience here a little bit briefly.
These feelings can show how they can positively influence our mental and physical health. So real quick, let's just cover what's going on with us when we're receiving and giving appreciation. So first off, you have higher levels of oxytocin. These are enhancing feelings of connection and trust among our team members leading to stronger, more cohesive teams. This also reduces stress and promotes the sense of calm and well-being. And when employees are feeling appreciative, their cognitive functions such as problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking, these all improve. And this can lead to better performance and more innovative solutions in the workplace.
It also helps with neuroplasticity, so developing positive neural pathways, making individuals more resilient to stress and better able to adapt to new situations. And then of course, there's the dopamine release that not only makes us feel good, but it also reinforces the behavior that led to its release. This means that when we are appreciated, we are more likely to continue performing well and contributing positively to the workplace. Tullio, I want your thoughts on this last one, and that is that expressing and receiving appreciation lowers cortisol levels, thereby reducing stress. So the key note there is that it's not just receiving it, but expressing it as well.

**Tullio Siragusa** (2:17)
Yeah, and this is such a key thing, because we often think of appreciation as something we like to feel appreciated, but it's dependent on someone else doing the act of appreciation. So if you're not surrounded by those who appreciate you enough, you'll end up empty, right? So but the beautiful thing about, I did this research on called the laws of emanation, where when you express it, in order for you to express it to someone, it has to flow through you. So in that act, you actually activate that state of being, that state of mind. So when I'm in a state of showing appreciation towards someone, I'm activating gratitude. That's the only way I can show appreciation. So in that acting, activating gratitude, I experience appreciation and gratitude. I experience all the chemical reaction of having shown appreciation. But don't let my words convince you.
Maybe we got some stats and some data that Ash can share on this.

**Ash Maher** (3:24)
Yeah, no, we did some research on this topic. So from the Impact of Employer Recognition and Appreciation on Retention from Gallup Study, said companies that foster a culture of appreciation have 31% lower voluntary turnover rates compared to those that do not prioritize recognition.
From a study done by the Health Benefits of Gratitude, a Harvard Health Study publishing, says people who feel appreciated and valued in their personal and professional lives tend to have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, and better heart health, which is actually interesting. Another study, now this is on the impact of business. The Business Impact of Employer Recognition is on a Forbes article.
Companies with a strong recognition program have 2.5 times higher revenue growth compared to those without such programs, highlighting the economic benefits of fostering a culture of appreciation. So then there's a more, there's the state of employee recognition. Organizations with strong recognition programs are 12 times more likely to have strong business outcomes. And then the last one, the study done by employee recognition, low cost, high impact by Gallup, a culture of appreciation leads to a 26% increase in employee morale and a 22% decrease in workplace conflicts.

**Stephen Sakach** (4:45)
I like to say, if there's, you know, if you can't do this and be appreciative and express gratitude as just being a nice person, you know, and you're trying to sell this to your bosses, here's the data, give them some data. And then, you know, you can push it through that way.

**Tullio Siragusa** (5:02)
Yeah, exactly. If it's all about the business, well, the data suggests that's a good business tactic. But to add to this study, there was actually the longest standing study that's ever been done. It's still ongoing. I think it's done by Harvard.