Meetings, deadlines, KPIs, spreadsheets, presentations, PowerPoints, Sam in Accounting, Julie in Finance, business trip in two days, and on, and on, and on… It’s so easy to get mired in the multitude of tasks in our workdays. Monday turns into Friday in a flash. One meeting melds into another. It’s easy to forget that our co-workers are humans too (with feelings, emotions, ego, and all the messy parts of the human experience).
We all want to feel appreciated and I can’t think of a better place than at work to create a culture of gratitude, kindness and appreciation. It turns out, it can deepen our connection to each other and to our work, and it can create a cultural paradigm shift in the office. Oh yeah!
For some of us, expressing gratitude at work, or even formalizing a gratitude practice at work, might seem like, well, more work. Maybe for many of us, we aren’t happy at work so to cultivate gratitude there, feels inauthentic. Or, perhaps it can be a bit awkward to express a gratitude to a colleague, or worse, to our manager or boss. Gratitude isn’t just a rote practice meant to make others feel good. Gratitude is meant to make US feel good. Gratitude is a cultivation of an attitude and an energy to be felt and shared with all humans in our lives.
Our Grateful Greeting Cards are a great way to express gratitude for a team member, colleague, boss, direct reports, employees, and customers alike.
I for one would rather work for a company that recognizes the good in its people, one that celebrates the smallest of victories, and one that shows true appreciation for people who actually spend more time with each other than with their families. That’s right, those who work 30-50 hours in an office, spend more time with co-workers than they do with their families.
“We tend to think of organizations as transactional places where you’re supposed to be ‘professional,’” says Ryan Fehr, an assistant professor of management at the University of Washington, Seattle, who recently published a paper summarizing the landscape of gratitude in business. “We may think that it’s unprofessional to bring things like forgiveness or gratitude or compassion into the workplace.” - Greater Good Science Center
Ways to Foster Gratitude at Work
Start in the C-suite.
For a company to create an authentic culture of gratitude, appreciation and kindness, it must come from the top, the very top. It must be imprinted in the company’s DNA - in its principles, beliefs and values. “Gratitude at work” can be such a trending trope, but a genuine, intentional culture of gratitude and appreciation can have a dramatically positive impact on employees’ well-being. Wouldn’t it be amazing for people to look forward to coming to work, to feel special and recognized for their efforts? Better yet, wouldn’t it be amazing to look forward to going to work and giving others that recognition and appreciation? Gratitude is a two-way street with benefits for all. There is nothing to lose.
A Little (note) Goes a Long Way
When was the last time you received a handwritten note of gratitude, from someone you didn’t expect it from? What a gift it is to receive a note acknowledging your contributions, a note thanking you for your efforts, or a note just to say, “Thank you, I’m grateful for you.” A handwritten note shows that someone took the time to sit down, get a pen and paper, and thoughtfully craft a message, just for you. What a wonderful act of kindness it is, and guess what, the writer of the note benefits from this act too. It just feels good to do something good for someone without expecting anything in return.
“Cultivating a culture of gratitude might be the best way to help a workplace prepare for stresses that come with change, conflict, and failure. Making gratitude a policy and a practice “builds up a sort of psychological immune system that can cushion us when we fall,” writes psychologist Robert Emmons. “There is scientific evidence that grateful people are more resilient to stress, whether minor everyday hassles or major personal upheavals.”
Don’t Force it
Keep gratitude top of mind, but don’t force it. We’re aiming for quality over quantity. There’s nothing worse than forcing a team to be grateful. It’s similar to calling a spur-of-the-moment brainstorm meeting - be creative, now! Expressing genuine, authentic gratitude for another person should be an intentional, selfless act. “The key is to create times and spaces that foster the voluntary, spontaneous expression of gratitude. It’s also the case that studies consistently show that there is such a thing as too much gratitude—it seems trying to be grateful everyday induces gratitude fatigue.”
With companies offering more and more benefits and perks to retain and motivate employees, one of the easiest and cheapest (free) ways is to create a culture that embraces kindness, appreciation and gratitude. A we’re-all-in-this-together atmosphere can go a long way to increase happiness, retention, productivity, inspiration, higher satisfaction and so much more. Gratitude shouldn’t just be reserved for our kids, spouses, or pets. Gratitude is a universal expression of appreciation and kindness. We truly ARE all in this together and when we pause to reflect, we have so much to be grateful for, even at work.
by Frederic