It is often said that politeness costs nothing. In fact, it seems that a little more courtesy could save businesses £5billion every year.

Frequently hearing the phrase "thank you" or "well done" means the same to staff as a modest pay rise, researchers say.

Praise and encouragement also makes employees more likely to work hard and stay in their jobs, saving on the cost of finding replacements.

A third of 1,000 workers surveyed by consulting firm White Water Strategies said they did not get thanked at all when they did well - and a further third said they were not thanked enough.

In both cases, staff said they felt undervalued, meaning they were less likely to exert themselves and were more likely to look for employment elsewhere.

The net result is around £5.2billion in lost productivity from employees who would raise their game if they felt more appreciated, White Water claimed.

According to the company, praising staff has the same motivational kick as a 1 per cent pay rise - and works out much cheaper for bosses.

Three out of four employees said that regular acknowledgement by their bosses was important to them, but only a quarter said they were actually given as much praise as they felt they needed.

The survey found that those in blue-collar and manual jobs were less likely to be given any recognition for doing well.

In regional terms, Scottish staff felt most undervalued. Four out of ten workers said they were never thanked and eight out of ten said they would like more praise.

However, workers in the North-East are less impressed by being buttered up by the boss, as only 69 per cent said they felt the need to be told "well done" regularly.

Older employees and women need the most reassurance, according to psychologist Averil Leimon, a director of White Water Strategies.

She said that words of praise did more than create a pleasant place to work - they could even boost profits.

俗话说“礼多无所失（却得到一切）”。事实表明，对员工以礼相待每年能为公司节省50亿英镑的支出。

研究人员称，对于员工而言，经常听到“谢谢”或“做得好”等礼貌之辞与适度加薪具有同样意义。

此外，赞扬和鼓励也能提高员工的工作积极性、并有利于稳定军心，从而能节省招聘成本。

怀特•沃特战略咨询公司对一千名员工开展了一项调查。调查结果显示，三分之一的受访员工称，即使他们工作表现出色，也没得到过老板的一句“感谢”；另有三分之一的人认为自己没有得到足够的感谢。

这两类员工都觉得自己没得到足够的重视，这意味着他们的工作积极性很可能会降低，而且换工作的可能性增大。

怀特•沃特公司称，员工工作效率低下造成了约52亿英镑的损失。但如果员工感到倍受赏识，他们的工作积极性就会提高。

怀特•沃特公司称，赞扬员工与1%的加薪具有同样的激励作用，而且这对于老板来说也更加划算。

调查显示，四分之三的员工称，经常得到老板的认可对于他们来说很重要；而仅有四分之一的人认为自己得到了应有的认可。

调查发现，“蓝领”及手工劳动者的出色工作表现很少得到老板的认可。

从地区来看，苏格兰员工最缺乏认可感。十分之一的员工称，他们从未得到过感谢，80%的人希望自己能得到更多表扬。

然而，英国东北部地区的员工则没那么需要老板的赞扬，仅有69%的人希望老板经常表扬他们“干得好”。

怀特•沃特战略咨询公司总监、心理学家艾弗尔•勒蒙说，年龄较大的员工和女性最需要这样的安慰。

她说，老板赞扬员工不仅能让工作氛围更加愉快，甚至能提高公司的经济效益。