Gratitude is a powerful term that enjoys a strong relevance in the modern age. Practicing gratitude in the workplace environment can yield many positive outcomes for both employers and employees.
It could make employees feel comfortable at work by establishing strong relationships with staff. For employers, it is a way to make employees happy by appreciating their work efforts.
What separates a successful organization from an unsuccessful organization? Well, it is the maintenance of a happy culture in the workplace. The important thing that plays a crucial role in it is – expressing gratitude.
Albert Einstein once said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” It is an apt quote to dictate the meaning and the importance of gratitude in modern times.
Expressing gratitude at work is not just an obligation but is a trait that defines a human. Many books have been written on the benefits of gratitude. Moreover, many studies have supported its positive impact on people’s lives.
Gratitude is a Human Need
Usually, work professionals consider their employees as a means to make a profit. They exploit them badly to take the maximum work from them, and they don’t even appreciate their achievements. All it does is leaves employees in a well of dejection that affects their performances badly.
What business leaders need to understand is gratitude is a human need. Showing gratitude at work helps to build strong relationships with employees. It also helps to create a positive work environment that yields positive results for a business.
Benefits of Showing Gratitude at Work
Both business leaders and employees should focus on expressing gratitude at work. The reason behind it is the multiple benefits associated with practicing gratitude in the workplace. Here are a few benefits of maintaining a grateful attitude at the workplace:
- Better Relationship with Coworkers & Employees – Gratitude is a powerful tool available to executives to boost employees’ team spirit. By appreciating the efforts of employees, business leaders can strengthen their relationships with coworkers and employees.
- Boosts the Staff Productivity – Appreciating employees’ work helps them work in a focused manner. It also eliminates stress from their minds and improves their work productivity manifold times.
- Raises Employees’ Happiness Index – Inculcating the culture of gratitude at the workplace can raise employees’ happiness index. Employees who show gratitude for work scale new heights in progress in a business environment. Regular practice of gratitude contributes to instilling positivity in the mind and body of every working person.
- Bring Overall Changes in Working Professionals – Gratitude helps both employees and employers to reduce their stress, increase well-being, improve the quality of sleep, and boost the immune system. It even eliminates suicidal thoughts and treats many mental disorders.
Until now, you must be having an idea of the power of gratitude at work. Many people reading this post might be having a few questions in their minds. One of the important questions on this subject is, “how can a business professional establish a culture of gratitude at the workplace?”
The answer to this question is straightforward. Business leaders need to follow a few points to promote the practice of gratitude in their workplace environment. What are the steps to undertake on this subject? To know about it, read below.
Top Ways to Inculcate Gratitude in the Workplace
As mentioned above, it is effortless to create an environment of expressing gratitude in the workplace. It is the role of both business leaders and employees to follow ways to show gratitude at work. Here is a list of ways that can help to promote gratitude in the office environment:
1. See Positive in Everything
In a workplace environment, every working professional encounters several challenges, and he also makes many mistakes. The focus of business executives should be on seeing the positives of their employees.
Highlighting the positive works of employees is one of the best ways to express gratitude for them. Moreover, employers should give a proper chance to employees to work on their negatives.
It would inculcate a positive environment in the workplace. And it would give a sense of positivity in employees’ lives. There cannot be a better way than this to appreciate and offer a supportive hand to working people in any business.
2. Establish a Culture of Appreciation
Every workplace must have a culture of appreciation for the efforts of its workforce. There could be an “appreciation wall” or any other daily routine protocol to express gratitude for employees.
It would help them realize the positive things in their lives, which would help them function better. It is a must for every employee to express his gratitude to feel good.
Gratitude is a gateway for showing other human emotions such as forgiveness and compassion. For employers, showing gratitude in the workplace for employees can help to make employees feel worthy.
Appreciating employees is one of the effective ways to show gratitude at work. And it completely transforms the overall work culture by instilling positivity and compassion into it.
3. Maintain a Helping Attitude Towards Coworkers
What makes a business professional a true leader? It is working to help others reach their true potential by acting as per the current trends. Some working people consider that they could only express their gratitude towards their staff members by offering them gifts, rewards, or bonuses.
Although it helps make working people happy, there is no better choice than helping workers in a business environment. When an executive or an employee helps his coworkers do any task, it makes him feel great.
It builds an emotional connection with working staff. It eventually sprouts harmony in a work environment, which spread happiness. All this leaves a positive impact on the health of working professionals.
4. Practice Gratitude in Your Workplace Regularly
Gratitude at work should be practiced daily, which can be done by promoting the expression of gratitude. For this, employers should keep a journal to express their gratitude. Additionally, they could also practice mindfulness to see its magical impact.
It helps a person realize the present moment that helps a person appreciate the positives in his life. The habit of mindfulness could help to release stress and anxiety from the minds of working people.
5. Give Unexpected Breaks to Employees
Who doesn’t like breaks from work? Well, everyone likes to have some free time to enjoy his personal life. Hence, it becomes the sole responsibility of employers to offer unexpected breaks to their working staff. It is an excellent way to express gratitude in the workplace towards their employees.
6. Offer Treat to Employees
Another way for employers to express gratitude at work is by offering treats to employees. Taking employees on lunch and rewarding them with personalized gifts could be some ways to appreciate them.
FAQs About Gratitude
The concept of gratitude is not new, but it has evolved. When it comes to expressing gratitude in the work environment, most working professionals only manage to follow it for some time.
It is because they don’t have the right understanding of what expressing true gratitude really means. There are a few questions that people often ask on this subject. And it simply shows their misconceptions about gratitude.
What are the misconceptions about the subject of gratitude? You might be eager to know the answer to this question. To know this, you need to read a few FAQs asked by people about gratitude. Here are the questions:
Some very common ways you can practice to show gratitude in your workplace include, but are not limited to, seeing positive in everything, establishing a culture of appreciation, maintaining a helping attitude, giving unexpected breaks to employees, and offering them treats.
Gratitude is a way to experience happiness by expressing thankfulness for everything that a working person possesses. It does offer many psychological benefits and other essential improvements in the business environment. But it is not a magic wand, so it cannot completely remove negativity & stress from the workplace.
Expressing gratitude in the workplace helps business leaders to show two human traits – forgiveness and compassion. It eventually helps to build a strong trust with the workforce in a business environment.
No, definitely not. Since every person is different, he prefers to express gratitude in his own unique way. Business leaders should find unique ways to express their gratitude towards their employees. Similarly, employees need to find their own ways to show gratitude for work in a business environment.
