Top 100 Employee Appreciation Quotes To Inspire Leaders

I’ll start this list with one of my most favorite employee appreciation quotes,

Brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated.
~ Robert McNamara

We often talk about employee appreciation as a criterion that needs to be checked off the management's to-do list.

But the importance of appreciation at the workplace goes far beyond that.

Seeking appreciation is an inherent human trait. Few words of praise and small acts of recognition towards your employees often go a long way.

When they feel recognized, their overall job satisfaction increases, and it naturally reflects on their performance level.

• 26% of employees ranked recognition for their work in their top three factors for staying with their current employer.

• 17% of employees said their manager/employer was horrible because they never recognized their work.

• 43% ranked their manager/employer as just okay because recognition is not frequent and timely.

The above data suggest that employee appreciation shouldn’t be limited to numbered days of the year. Infact, you should embed it in the fabric of your company culture.

This blog is for managers, employers, and business leaders to inspire you to reinvent your rewards and recognition program.

Related Articles: Rewards and Recognition Ideas to Boost Employee Recognition

(Credits: Unsplash)

The perfect employee doesn’t exist. They are nurtured.

And the following Employee Appreciation Quotes will tell you the same story

1. Susan M. Heathfield

Recognition is not a scarce resource. You can't use it up or run out of it.

2. Brad Federman

Paychecks can’t buy passion.

3. Mike Abrashoff

It all came down to employee engagement. It all came down to recognition. It all came down to leadership, which led to every sailor feeling ownership and accountability for the results. You can ask a team to accomplish a mission, but you can’t order excellence.

4. Mary Kay Ash

No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel important.

5. William Arthur Ward

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.

6. Randy Pausch

Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.

7. Sybil F. Stershic

The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel.

8. Francis Hesselbein

Dispirited, unmotivated, unappreciated workers cannot compete in a highly competitive world.

9. Betty Bender

When people go to work, they shouldn’t have to leave their hearts at home.

10. Gerard C Eakedale

Recognition is the greatest motivator.

11. Bob Nelson

Take time to appreciate employees, and they will reciprocate in a thousand ways.

12. Mother Teresa

There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

13. Jag Randhawa

All employees have an innate desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves.

14. David Novak

People leave when they don’t feel appreciated. That’s why we’ve made recognition a really high value. Our business is people-capability first; then you satisfy customers; then you make money.

15. Pamela Stroko

People want to know they matter, and they want to be treated as people. That’s the new talent contract.

16. Eraldo Banovac

Motivating employees to work at their full potential is the main premise of successful management.

17. Jack Welch

Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.

18. Kevin Kruse

Life isn’t about getting and having; it’s about giving and being.

19. Amit Kalantri

If you fulfill the wishes of your employees, the employees will fulfill your visions.

20. James Allen

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.

21. Luc de Clapiers

If people did not complement one another, there would be little society.

22. Ronald Reagan

The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.

23. Ari Weinzweig

If you don’t create a great, rewarding place for people to work, they won’t do great work.

24. Sir Richard Branson

I have always believed that the way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers and that people flourish when they are praised.

25. Marissa Mayer

It's about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment & helping to find a way to innovate.

26. Letitia Baldrige

Good manners are cost-effective. They not only increase the quality of life in the workplace, they contribute to employee morale, embellish the company image, and play a major role in generating profit.

27. Mary Gauthier

When you see validation for a life's work and dedication, it's a beautiful day.

28. Jennifer Hyman

I kick off every monthly team meeting with 'core value stories' - team members stand up and recognize how another team member exemplified a core value.

29. Toni Duggan

Most coaches' attention to detail is very good; it's their job. They have to analyze teams, and they have to analyze their own team.

30. Douglas Conant

On a personal level, I send out about 20 thank-you notes a day to staffers on all levels. And every six weeks I have lunch with a group of a dozen or so employees, to get their perspective on the business, to address problems and to get feedback.

31. Zig Ziglar

You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on life.

32. Joyce Meyer

It's very inexpensive to give a compliment.

33. Ken Blanchard

Feedback is the breakfast of champions.

34. Tom Hopkins

Keep your eyes open and try to catch people in your company doing something right, then praise them for it.

35. Arthur Conan Doyle

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.

36. Veronica Roth

A brave man acknowledges the strength of others.

37. Margaret Cousins

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

38. Tom Rath

Employees who report receiving recognition and praise within the last seven days show increased productivity, get higher scores from customers, and have better safety records. They're just more engaged at work.

39. Stephen R. Covey

Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.

40. Mike Byam

Recognize and affirm people when they contribute to the mission you share. Do this, and you will ignite their purpose and potential.

41. Anonymous

What gets recognized gets reinforced, and what gets reinforced gets repeated.

42. Karl Sun

A culture of gratitude helps people realize how truly fortunate they are and instills a desire to pay that forward.

43. Bill Walsh

Nothing is more effective than sincere, accurate praise, and nothing is more lame than a cookie-cutter compliment.

44. Anne M. Mulcahy

Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person - not just an employee - are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.

45. Charles Schwab

The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.

46. Gordon T. Smith

Good work requires an appreciation of the value of routine, ordinary, mundane rhythms of doing what needs to be done, each day and each week, thoroughly and with care.

47. Matshona Dhliwayo

You become strong by lifting others up, not pulling them down.

48. Voltaire

Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

49. Jim Stovall

You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins.

50. Maya Angelou

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

51. Simon Sinek

A boss wants to pay for results, an employee wants recognition for effort. If a boss recognizes effort, they will get even better results.

52. Abhishek Ratna

When an employee truly understands the meaning of his work and gets recognition for his efforts, he performs the best.

53. Jim Rohn

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.

54. Michael Jordan

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.

55. Doug Conant

To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace.

56. Dale Carnegie

People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.

57. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

58. Aristotle

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

59. David C. Novak

Mary Kay knew that when you put people first and then surround them with processes and disciplines that recognize their efforts, performance will soar.

60. Amber Hurdle

You’ve got to get your team to not only understand your company brand, but also to understand their personal brand.

61. Robert G. Thompson

Realize that employees and the customers both have to be engaged, at the same time, to move your business forward for sustainable success.

62. Cindy Ventrice

In behavioral economic terms, when we offer recognition we are acknowledging that the recipients have met a social ideal. They are behaving in a certain manner because they believe is the right thing to do. If we then recognize that behavior with praise or appreciation, we offer a confirmation that their behavior is desirable, and do so in a manner that recipients find meaningful.

63. Erik Mosley and Derek Irvine

When a manager recognizes an employee’s behavior, personally and sincerely, both feel proud, gratified, and happy. There’s a human connection that transcends the immediate culture to create a shared bond. The power of this bond is stronger than you might think; indeed, it’s the power that holds together great organizational cultures.

64. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Correction does much, but encouragement does more.

65. William James

What every genuine philosopher (every genuine man, in fact) craves most is praise — although the philosophers generally call it ‘recognition’!

66. Arnold H. Glasow

Praise does wonders for our sense of hearing.

67. Sam Walton

Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.

68. George Adams

Note how good you feel after you have encouraged someone else. No other argument is necessary to suggest that never miss the opportunity to give encouragement.

69. Paul Bailey

Being told something positive about yourself, whether from someone you’re close to, or a passing acquaintance, should really lift the spirits. Just the fact that someone has taken the time to let you know, should have you feeling noticed and appreciated.

70. G.K. Chesterton

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

71. Alan Cohen

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.

72. Northrup Christiane

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.

73. Jacques Maritain

Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.

74. Roberto Benigni

It is a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.

75. Joe Navarro

People want to be appreciated, cared for, loved, trusted, and respected. But they also want to be understood, and if you master the skills to achieve that, you truly become exceptional.

Suggested Read: Powerful Affirmations For Success At Work

76. Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.

77. Albert Schweitzer

At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

78. Brian Tracy

Develop an attitude of gratitude. Say thank you to everyone you meet for everything they do for you.

79. William Blake

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.

80. W. Clement Stone

If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.

81. Yami Gautam

I think you need to love giving compliments as much as you love receiving them.

82. Albert Einstein

I was very pleased with your kind letter. Until now I never dreamed of being something like a hero. But since you’ve given me the nomination I feel that I am one.

83. Salman Aziz

Thanks will be a worthless word until a person tells it from heart. When a person thanks someone with full heart then the word will be big and worthy word and will have full meaning to the person. Or else it will remain small and valueless word if a person says it just for saying.

84. H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

85. Sunday Adelaja

It does not matter who is in your team, what matters is who they will become because of you.

86. Frank A. Clark

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.

87. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Everybody is looking for validation, no matter who you are, and I think that's a need of the human condition - to look for affection or recognition or validation.

88. Cindi Leive

People want to be understood and respected as individuals. Years ago, an executive editor of mine said, ‘You should count the number of times you praise somebody and then double that.’ Even the toughest, steeliest writer or editor often really wants to be told, ‘Hey, that was a great piece.’ Early in my career as a manager, it probably took me a while to realize that everyone wants that. It’s just a human need.

89. Larry Page

Make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, has a meaningful impact and is contributing to the good of the society.

90. Adam Neumann

People are the most important thing. Business model and product will follow if you have the right people.

91. Jeff Bezos

What we need to do is always lean into the future; when the world changes around you and when it changes against you- what used to be your tail wind is now your head wind. You have to lean into that and figure out what to do, because complaining isn’t a strategy.

92. Mark Zuckerberg

Treat your employees right so they won’t use your Internet to look for new jobs.

93. Peter F. Drucker

Productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.

94. Tony Hsieh

Every employee can affect your company’s brand, not just the frontline employees that are paid to talk to your customers.

95. Dan Sullivan

Treat your employees like an investment, not a cost.

96. John D. Rockefeller

Good management consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

97. Lawrence Bossidy

At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies.

98. Julie Bevacqua

In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to understand what matters to your people.

99. Steve Wynn

Human resources isn’t a thing we do. It’s a thing that runs our business.

100. Sue Fitzmaurice

Being told you’re appreciated is one of the simplest and most uplifting things you can hear.

Wrapping it up

Whenever you see an employee work harder and go the extra mile, remember to acknowledge their effort. Without due appreciation, the “feel good” factor that they gain will vanish. Suddenly, you have an incredibly disengaged employee at your hands.

We hope you liked our collection of the best employee appreciation quotes and they inspired and encouraged you to be a better leader.