More than 75% of employees expect this from their boss and coworkers

Ever wonder what your employees want to be thanked for? It might surprise you.

When it comes to helping out their boss with a major task, more than 75% of workers said they expected appreciation for their good deeds, according to a new survey.

Payroll and human resources solutions outsourcing company Paychex conducted a survey with more than 1,000 current employees to learn about their thoughts and experiences with gratitude in the workplace. The study found that workers want recognition for their efforts around the office.

Seventy-seven percent of the respondents said they wanted gratitude for helping their boss or a coworker operate through a tough task. More than 60% of respondents said they wanted to hear “thank you” for working extra hours or performing duties outside of their job description.

Others said a strong job performance, covering for a co-worker while they’re on vacation, doing unwanted tasks, and providing a solution to a problem also deserved recognition.

The survey found that while 35% of employees said it’s extremely motivating to be shown gratitude at work, hearing it from other coworkers isn’t exactly guaranteed. Half of the employees said they sometimes hear gratitude from their co-workers, with 30% saying it happens often and about 12% admitting it rarely happens.

As for how often employees express grated toward coworkers, more than 46% said they often do it, while just a little over a third reported as only sometimes.

Thirty-three percent of respondents said they’ve felt they’re not shown the gratitude they deserve at work.

Millennials were the generation expecting gratitude the most for standard job tasks, according to the survey, with 57% expecting a simple “thanks” for their work efforts, who 60% of workers over age 40 said they didn’t expect gratitude for their work.

The most valued expressions of gratitude are…

With four in 10 US workers thinking they’re underpaid, it makes sense that more money would be the way workers feel that their hard work pays off.

More than 75% of workers agreed that financial incentives, like receiving either a pay raise or a bonus, was the most valuable way their bosses show gratitude.

Other workers’ eyed being given more paid time off (58%) and half of the workers said a flexible work schedule would be a nice way of appreciating their hard work.

As for what workers don’t feel shows gratitude, companies should lay off dishing out company merchandise, writing thank-you emails, or sending workers to a conference or seminar.