You want to encourage your employees or colleagues to keep putting out high-quality work.
But is the phrase keep up the good work a suitable one to choose in a work setting?
In this article, we’ll show you 10 alternative ways to say keep up the good work to avoid repetition in your work correspondence.
After that, we’ll discuss the correctness of this phrase and look at the situations in which you can use it.
10 Alternative Ways to Say “Keep up the Good Work”
Below, you’ll find 10 other ways to say keep up the good work in an email:
- You’re doing a great job
- That’s coming along nicely
- Keep it up
- You’re a fast learner
- Well done
- Way to go
- Keep doing what you’re doing
- I’m very impressed by your progress
- You make that look easy
- I couldn’t have done a better job myself
1. You’re Doing a Great Job
If an employee is producing notably great work, it never hurts to indicate this in your feedback!
Therefore, you can provide encouragement and motivation with the phrase you’re doing a great job.
This alternative is a tad less instructive than keep up the good work. After all, it simply acknowledges that an employee is doing well, rather than telling them to keep doing well.
Nonetheless, if an employee feels that their efforts are noticed and valued, they are far more likely to keep up the momentum.
So, the effect of this phrase is the same as the original.
Thus, have a look at how we’ve used it in an email example:
Dear Ulka,
Thank you for such a detailed memorandum on this subject.
You’re doing a great job!
Kind regards,
Simone
2. That’s Coming Along Nicely
You can say that’s coming on nicely when your team or an employee is working on a particular project.
This phrase essentially means that they are making great progress in their work.
This will certainly encourage them to keep up the same pace and effort, making it a great synonym for keep up the good work.
See the example below:
Dear Shauna,
Superb. That’s coming along nicely.
Regards,
Sabrina
3. Keep It Up
Keep it up is essentially a shortened and slightly less formal variation of keep up the good work.
Therefore, you can use it when you are sending a quick but complimentary email to one of your team members.
The “it” in this phrase refers to the “good work,” and most employees will be aware of this common phrase.
In addition, if you work in a busy office setting, it helps to keep your inter-office emails as short and to the point as possible.
Therefore, let’s see a sample email that includes this alternative:
Dear Jessica,
Excellent work.
Keep it up!
Regards,
Bobby
4. You’re a Fast Learner
You can say you’re a fast learner when a trainee or new recruit is picking up on their work responsibilities very quickly.
Being a “fast learner” is a great quality in any employee.
After all, if they learn new skills quickly, this greatly reduces the amount of time and resources you need to expend on training them.
You’re a fast learner is more of a complimentary observation than a direct encouragement.
However, this feedback is still very useful for trainees or junior team members. Namely, knowing that they are doing well will give them the confidence to continue.
Consider the following email sample:
Dear Joseline,
I can see that you’re a fast learner!
Your progress this week has been very impressive.
Kind regards,
Rhys
5. Well Done
A good, short and sweet way to commend an employee is to simply say well done.
This phrase is very versatile.
After all, you can use it to compliment an employee’s work on a particular task or project. However, you can also use it to compliment their work ethic in general.
In addition, the knowledge that they are doing well will motivate your employee to keep up the good work.
To see this alternative in action, check out the example below:
Dear Vico,
Well done on the presentation today!
I look forward to learning more about your findings.
Regards,
Claudia
6. Way to Go
Way to go is an informal alternative. Therefore, this is a phrase you can use in an email to a colleague you are close to.
If you have a friendly dynamic with your office peers, you can use more friendly and casual phrasing in your complimentary emails.
Moreover, giving encouraging feedback to your coworkers will create a good rapport between you and maintain a supportive environment in the workplace.
Therefore, let’s see this phrase in an email example:
Dear Selenis,
Congratulations on your promotion!
Way to go!
All the best,
Matthew
7. Keep Doing What You’re Doing
Another way to say keep up the good work is keep doing what you’re doing.
This phrase implies that an employee is succeeding in their role. Therefore, whatever strategy they are employing is something they should maintain.
This alternative comes across as business casual.
Therefore, it’s appropriate to use this phrase if you are speaking to someone lower down in your work hierarchy, even in a corporate environment.
To see what we mean, check out the following email sample:
Dear Samba,
Your profile is looking great so far.
Keep doing what you’re doing.
Regards,
Yvonne
8. I’m Very Impressed by Your Progress
If you are a senior member in a formal office setting, you will want to maintain a professional register in your emails to your team, even when you are providing encouragement.
Therefore, you can use the phrase I’m very impressed by your progress when giving feedback to a new member of your workforce, especially if they are excelling in their new role.
For example:
Dear Leslie,
I’m very impressed by your progress over the past three months.
If you continue at this rate, I can predict a promotion in the near future.
Regards,
Samson
9. You Make That Look Easy
You make that look easy is another friendly phrase that you can use in an email to a colleague.
In particular, this phrase works well if your coworker is producing high-quality work despite working in a complicated arena.
This phrase is casual but will surely make your coworker feel valued and appreciated.
Therefore, let’s see it in an email sample:
Dear Naya,
Incredible presentation this morning!
You make that look easy.
Kind regards,
Ewen
10. I Couldn’t Have Done a Better Job Myself
The phrase I couldn’t have done a better job myself works well if you are a supervisor or senior member of your team.
In these circumstances, this is very high praise.
After all, you are essentially saying that your team member has managed to achieve a quality of work just as good as what you could produce, even with your greater experience.
This will let your team member know that whatever they are doing is working splendidly.
Therefore, they will be encouraged to keep up the good work.
Check out how we’ve used this phrase in our final example:
Dear Astrid,
This is a very high-quality report, and I couldn’t have done a better job myself.
You should feel very proud of yourself.
Kind regards,
Eden
Is It Correct to Say “Keep up the Good Work”?
The phrase keep up the good work is perfectly correct and a suitable way to commend an employee when they are excelling at their job.
This phrase is a compliment. However, it is best suited for when you are a senior member of your team speaking to a junior member.
It may come across as a tad patronizing and rude in an email to a superior, so use it with caution!
Nonetheless, we’ll show you two ways that you can use this phrase in a couple of email examples:
Dear Zackery,
Your report is excellent; keep up the good work!
Regards,
Nyasha
You can replace good with great or any other positive adjective depending on how effusive you wish to sound in your email.
For instance:
Dear Nia,
I’m very impressed with the quality of this spreadsheet.
Keep up the great work.
Regards,
Desmond
Although keep up the good work is a correct phrase, it is rather standardized and may come across as insincere if you use it too frequently.
Therefore, you can use our list of alternative phrases to avoid repetition and keep your encouraging emails more diverse.
