According to a study, your employer’s small gestures of kindness will improve an employee’s health and performance. 

The researchers observed that when employers improved the lunches being served to a group of bus drivers in China. When they added fresh fruits to drivers’ lunches, depression symptoms decreased and the confidence during their work increased. 

A lead author of the study metioned, 

An ultimate solution to improve worker performance and health could be big pay raises or reduced workloads, but when those solutions aren’t feasible, we found that even small offerings can make a big difference. 

This survey included 86 Shenzen bus drivers who were distributed with surveys three times during the course of the study. The first one, a week before the experiment began. Second in the middle of the three-week experiment, and the third, a week after the end of the experiment.

The survey asked the participants to rate how often they felt down, hopeless, depressed, or had trouble sleeping during the previous two weeks.  

The drivers answered with, 

Bus drivers reported significantly decreased depression levels one week after the experiments ended compared to one week before it began. 

The research also assessed each driver’s perceived confidence and ability to do their job and added, 

We found that self-efficacy was significantly higher in the middle of the experiment week than in the week after the experiment ended. This research suggests that employees can be sensitive to any improvement at the workplace. Before an ultimate solution is possible, some small steps can make a difference — one apple at a time. 

So boss, if you’re reading this, a hike in our salary would be a really kind gesture. Just saying!