Employee Appreciation Day is today...and we have to be honest...we're not celebrating.

Why?

First, some numbers showing why, if you were celebrating employee appreciation day...today would be a really good time to do it...one might even say right in the nick of time.

Gallup says the majority of employees are checking out (only 33% are engaged); the Wall Street Journal says employees are burning out (survey says: stress!); and our Modern Family Index says working parents are feeling edged out (dads, too).

What else? Gallup's State of the American Workplace says the number of people who say it's a great time to look for a job has more than doubled since 2012.

Yikes.

The Big Power of the Small Thank You

What would help? Benefits are good (have we mentioned we're big fans of child care?). Education and career growth are pretty big deals. And never underestimate the power of a humble thank you. Hence, employee appreciation.

How important are thank yous? Saying thank you is such a big deal that 65% of unhappy employees in one study cited "not feeling valued" as the reason. On the other hand, the vast majority of people who labeled their employer a dream company said they felt valued. So, there you go.

All of this begs the question: if we're such big fans of employee appreciation, why aren't we at Bright Horizons celebrating on this particular day? I'll let one of the folks responsible for our home-office celebrations tell you!

"WE CELEBRATE EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY EVERY DAY!"

Shoulda seen that coming (and we have the cupcakes and manicures to prove it).

A big thank you to all the people we're so lucky to call colleagues and clients.

Enjoy the day!