‘Love’ Your Employees, and Your Bottom Line Will Love You, Says Former CEO

(See Angie Herbers’ latest blog on five ways to keep your employees happy.)

Sound unlikely? Patkin tells of when he first entered the family business and started dealing out hugs all around. “The man who ran our 18 stores had a heart attack and my dad gave me the stores [to run],” he recalls. While he “knew nothing about auto parts,” he “worked hard” at his new responsibilities, but part of what made the difference, he says, were the hugs.

Describing himself as short and the other employees as bigger in stature, he says at first they found it strange that he would hug them. But after a year or two, he adds, if he failed to do so, they would call to find out whether he was upset with them. “Big people are the same as little people,” he says. “We all want to be loved.” Describing himself as “all love,” Patkin adds, “Managers think it’s their job to catch people doing things wrong and I think it’s the opposite. Catch people doing something good today,” he urges, “and tell them.”

Hugs aren’t the only thing Patkin advocates—a good thing if you aren’t the touchy-feely type. He also suggests sending “love notes” and leaving voicemails for their families to let employees know you noticed the good work they’re doing and to praise them for it; publicly praising good work—and privately administering reprimands; and forgiving mistakes when an employee is otherwise a good worker and not just a complainer.

Scientifically, it may surprise you to know, Patkin’s notions are borne out. A recent New York Times article reported that psychologists studying the effects of being thankful have found that gratitude produces better health and sleep, lessens anxiety and depression, and makes people both kinder toward others and more content with their lives—all good things when bad news dominates the headlines. Not only that, but a new study reveals a lessening of aggression among those who cultivate gratitude.

In a Northeastern University experiment, participants were given sabotaged computers and it was arranged for another student to fix them. Students whose computers were repaired by these good Samaritans were more likely to volunteer, in turn, to help someone else—thereby paying the good deed forward. Imagine such a result being replicated in your office, whereby employees praised for good work and feeling appreciated and grateful turn that benevolence on fellow employees and on your clients.

Patkin adds, “If there is one thing I would like to tell all leaders at all levels and in all industries, it’s that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain—including an improved bottom line—by making your organization as happy a place to work as possible.”