Company culture is a big factor in employee satisfaction. As a small business owner, you need to engage your employees and make them feel like a valued part of the team.

A good place to start is by choosing the right words to communicate appreciation and positive reinforcement for your staff. Here are a few phrases to incorporate into your communication strategy.

1. Thank You.

When your employee performs above and beyond the call of duty, or takes on an extra task to help out in the office, it’s important to acknowledge that effort. Even if it’s just making coffee for the office, saying “thank you” tells the employee that their time and energy is valuable to you and the business.

2. Great Idea!

You want your employees to feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. After all, you have employees to bring great ideas to grow your business. Encourage the process by letting them know that you hear their ideas and take them into consideration.

3. What Do You Think?

You want your business to be the kind of company that is driven by innovative ideas. In today’s fast-passed digital business, you may miss opportunities to improve processes in your business. Ask your employees their thoughts and opinions on operations or sales practices, or whatever happens to be the project at the time. This will help to cultivate that open corporate culture for your employees as well.

4. Let’s Move Forward.

Your employees will make mistakes, it’s a given. However, you want to give them an opportunity to recover from those “oops” moments and learn from their mistakes. If you dwell on the mistake instead of moving forward, the employee may be afraid to venture out of their comfort zone in the future.

5. I’m Sorry.

You’re going to make mistakes too. That’s also a given. When you do make that mistake, you want to set the example for your staff and acknowledge the mistake. This also tells your employees that you are a part of the team too, and value their trust enough to own your own mistakes. From there, you can rectify the situation, leaving a better impression on your employees.