It is often said that politeness costs nothing. In fact, it seems that a little more courtesy could save businesses £5billion every year.

    Frequently hearing the phrase "thank you" or "well done" means the same to staff as a modest pay rise, researchers say.

    Praise and encouragement also makes employees more likely to work hard and stay in their jobs, saving on the cost of finding replacements.

    A third of 1,000 workers surveyed by consulting firm White Water Strategies said they did not get thanked at all when they did well - and a further third said they were not thanked enough.

    In both cases, staff said they felt undervalued, meaning they were less likely to exert themselves and were more likely to look for employment elsewhere.

    The net result is around £5.2billion in lost productivity from employees who would raise their game if they felt more appreciated, White Water claimed.

    According to the company, praising staff has the same motivational kick as a 1 per cent pay rise - and works out much cheaper for bosses.

    Three out of four employees said that regular acknowledgement by their bosses was important to them, but only a quarter said they were actually given as much praise as they felt they needed.

    The survey found that those in blue-collar and manual jobs were less likely to be given any recognition for doing well.

    In regional terms, Scottish staff felt most undervalued. Four out of ten workers said they were never thanked and eight out of ten said they would like more praise.

    However, workers in the North-East are less impressed by being buttered up by the boss, as only 69 per cent said they felt the need to be told "well done" regularly.

    Older employees and women need the most reassurance, according to psychologist Averil Leimon, a director of White Water Strategies.

    She said that words of praise did more than create a pleasant place to work - they could even boost profits.

    俗話說“禮多無所失（卻得到一切）”。事實表明，對員工以禮相待每年能為公司節省50億英鎊的支出。

    研究人員稱，對于員工而言，經常聽到“謝謝”或“做得好”等禮貌之辭與適度加薪具有同樣意義。此外，贊揚和鼓勵也能提高員工的工作積極性、并有利于穩定軍心，從而能節省招聘成本。懷特•沃特戰略咨詢公司對一千名員工開展了一項調查。

    調查結果顯示，三分之一的受訪員工稱，即使他們工作表現出色，也沒得到過老板的一句“感謝”；另有三分之一的人認為自己沒有得到足夠的感謝。這兩類員工都覺得自己沒得到足夠的重視，這意味著他們的工作積極性很可能會降低，而且換工作的可能性增大。

    懷特•沃特公司稱，員工工作效率低下造成了約52億英鎊的損失。但如果員工感到倍受賞識，他們的工作積極性就會提高。懷特•沃特公司稱，贊揚員工與1%的加薪具有同樣的激勵作用，而且這對于老板來說也更加劃算。調查顯示，四分之三的員工稱，經常得到老板的認可對于他們來說很重要；而僅有四分之一的人認為自己得到了應有的認可。調查發現，“藍領”及手工勞動者的出色工作表現很少得到老板的認可。從地區來看，蘇格蘭員工最缺乏認可感。

    40%的員工稱，他們從未得到過感謝，80%的人希望自己能得到更多表揚。然而，英國東北部地區的員工則沒那么需要老板的贊揚，僅有69%的人希望老板經常表揚他們“干得好”。

    懷特•沃特戰略咨詢公司總監、心理學家艾弗爾•勒蒙說，年齡較大的員工和女性最需要這樣的安慰。

    她說，老板贊揚員工不僅能讓工作氛圍更加愉快，甚至能提高公司的經濟效益。