Showing appreciation really is critical for the ongoing success of your teams. But often hard to properly quantify, a new study has started to put some numbers against the importance of recognising great work and giving thanks for efforts made.

Published by Office Team, the report found that 66% of employees would leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated.

Interestingly, that figure has increased from 51% just five years ago, and one reason for that could be the increase of millennials in the workplace. The chances of respondents from this cohort jumping an organisational ship for the same reason stood at 76% - far higher than the average.

And there’s a clear gap between managerial attitudes to the importance of appreciation and how much importance employees put in it too. The same study found that 54% of managers felt it was common for their staff to quit because of a lack of recognition - far below what employees are reporting.

So what does this all mean for businesses?

In short, it means that businesses should be making a more concerted effort to appreciate their staff. Yes, you may pay them handsomely to fulfil their job description, and perhaps the perks your organisation offers are great too.

But frequent, short bursts of appreciation - when earnt - can deliver a really potent short-term boost to employees and wider teams too.

As top Forbes contributor Victor Lipman noted in an article on the same topic, ‘the manager-employee bond is a fragile one’, yet showing appreciation helps strengthen that relationship, build trust and forge productive partnerships too.

What’s more, a consistent and also persistent approach to appreciation giving can lead to further, more permanent business/employee benefits too, including higher overall work engagement, motivation, productivity and job loyalty as well.

How appreciated do you think your staff feel when they leave the workplace? If you’re not sure or you know the answer is ‘not very’, then there’s a huge opportunity to really galvanise your workforce.

And it can all start with a simple ‘thank you for your efforts’ and a ‘well done’.