For those serving sectors with skills shortages it seems your problems could be solved in one hit. Just bring in a couple of young, good-looking members of the Royal Family and your recruitment problems are over. The army has reported that young women are flocking to join as officers to try to get to know Princes William and Harry.

Recruiters have noticed a "significant" rise in applications from female candidates since the two Royals started training. One instructor said: "The real change over the past year has been the number of female applicants. We can't put this down to anything other than the princes. "In 2004, between January and August just 68 women applied to Sandhurst, compared with 86 this year. Thanks to you allPerformance improvement specialist Maritz reckons that more than a third of UK workers are thanked twice a year or less. About 19% are never thanked.

The research claims that recognition by way of a thank you (National Thank You Day is on 24 November) has a very positive effect on employee morale, productivity and retention. For businesses searching for the most effective way to increase productivity and retain staff - the answer may be as simple as thank you.

When asked how being thanked affected their morale almost all (95%) of those asked said it had a very or quite positive effect, with most rating this as very positive (56%).

About 88% rated the effect on their productivity as very or quite positive.

The results of the Maritz survey reveal that being thanked has a greater impact on women than men but that fewer women than men are thanked.