Thanksgiving in the US is an opportunity to take time off, visit with family, and reflect on the positives in our lives while we enjoy our feasts. It’s also a fine time to remind ourselves that it’s good to talk turkey with your talent about how their efforts drive business performance, and to maintain a focus on policies that encourage retention of top talent.

In a downturn economy some low-cost perks can go a long way to boosting morale. A Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. survey reveals that
• 57% of companies have been able to retain their existing perks.
• Only 20% of companies have had to cut or eliminate perks as part of their cost-containment measures. About 35% of these companies were compelled to cut perks in order to save jobs.
• In fact, 35% of the human resource executives surveyed who said that their companies were not cutting perks indicated that they utilized low-cost perks, which precluded the need for cutbacks.

Open communication was valued more than raises in terms of employee retention by nearly a factor of two, according to MAP’s Quarterly CEO Survey conducted by Vantage Research.

White Water Strategies actually quantified “The Power of Thank You” in the UK. Their “analysis shows that acknowledging staff achievements properly has the equivalent perceived value of a 1% pay rise. Looking at current employment figures, that translates to £5.2bn saving for UK business.”

And Companies embrace praise offers low cost but high value communication as a way to let your people know how important they are to your success. According to the cited survey of 10,000 people, lack of recognition was the employment deal breaker.

So prompting your managers to say a simple thank you for Thanksgiving Day—and every day—is a no-cost/high payback talent management strategy worth practicing.