To the youngest members of the workforce, thank-you notes may seem as outdated as phone books and landlines, but the CEO of Neiman Marcus swears by them.
Geoffroy van Raemdonck, chief executive of the luxury retailer with annual sales of $5 billion, said he sends thank-you notes every day. Other experts agree—a quick thank you after an interview can be the difference between getting hired and not. At least it’s a simple way for individuals to express gratitude in an age of increasing technology and automation.
“Great mentors taught me the power of sending thank you notes,” van Remdonk told wealth. “This is really important to me – a ‘thank you’ moment – because I know what it means to be thanked, to be recognized,” he said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, van Raemdonck said he would send anywhere from three to five handwritten thank-you notes a day. During and after the pandemic, as workers shifted to remote or hybrid work arrangements and the 9-to-5 routine became obsolete, he turned to text messages, emails and quick phone calls.
“I want to be a generous leader,” he said. “The way I remind myself is to recognize the generosity of others.”
He describes the process of expressing gratitude as a muscle: “When I get stuck every day and look back and say, … who should I be grateful for for their contribution to my life or organization? It’s really this muscle.”
Other supervisors also swear by thank-you notes, especially in recruiting. Jessica Liebman, Chief People Officer Insiderwrites that forgetting to write a thank you email after an interview is the number one mistake that causes candidates to be left out of the recruitment process.
“As a recruiting manager, you should always expect a thank you email, and you should never make an offer to someone who forgets to send one,” Liebman wrote.
Liebman said the email reflected two important things: It showed the person wanted the job and that they were “eager, organized and polite enough to send the letter.” (However, she warns against Send a handwritten letter After the interview. )
death of thank you letter
Gen Z and Millennials may be responsible for the demise of the thank-you note. As young workers enter the workforce, they are upending occupational norms—from changing work dress codes to turning down assignments and turning down job opportunities in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
A 27-year-old young man said this: washington post “Miss Manners” consultation column: “It’s not that we don’t appreciate you or that we feel entitled to a gift. It’s just that we say ‘thank you’ differently. We do not anticipate receiving thank you cards, so please do not expect us to send them. “
“Miss Manners” admits that while etiquette changes with the times, expressing gratitude is always necessary, no matter what generation the person belongs to. Others argue for the power of handwritten thank-you notes in an increasingly digital age.
“In my opinion, old-fashioned thank-you notes are more important now than they were in the past because so few people write them,” etiquette coach Maggie Oldham told reporters. New York Times. “Handwritten notes are a differentiating factor. They show the person you are thanking that you have made a sincere effort to acknowledge their act of kindness or generosity.”
Van Remdonk believes that sending thank-you notes not only makes him a more thoughtful leader, but also makes him a better person.
“I know the impact it has when you receive it. But frankly, it’s just as big an impact for the person who’s saying thank you,” van Remdonk said. “It’s a great way to remind yourself that you can do well every day.”
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