The importance of practicing gratitude is often discussed in terms of our individual personal lives, but it’s also significant in the business environment. According to one study, employees are 50 percent more successful when leaders show gratitude for their efforts. That’s a win-win!
The Benefits of Expressing Gratitude in the Workforce
Showing gratitude in the work environment has benefits for the business, its employees and customers.
Increased Well-Being: When we practice gratitude, our focus changes from negative or average thoughts to positive ones, putting us in a better mental state and improving our mood. Stress is reduced and health is improved. This increased well-being also affects people we interact with, such as colleagues and customers. When we find some things to be grateful for at the beginning of each day, we get started on the right foot. Just as negative thoughts can build up momentum, so can positive thoughts, which is another reason why it’s important to practice gratitude.
Increased Employee Satisfaction: When employees are happy and healthy, they have fewer absences, are less likely to leave a company, and are able to better serve customers. When staff members are happy about where they work, they are more likely to become advocates for their company and give it positive reviews. Furthermore, a workplace suffused with gratitude helps ensure a positive onboarding process for new employees.
Create a Better Work Environment and a More Successful Business: The positive company culture that is built through gratitude helps alleviate frustrations from work challenges by creating a friendly and supportive environment. The mental and health benefits of gratitude create better work relationships and happier and more productive employees. This, in turn, helps create a more successful business.
Leadership and Gratitude
It’s important for the leaders of an organization to set an example for practicing gratitude. Appreciation helps make leaders more empathetic and understanding of their employees and customers and makes them more authentic. Gratitude from leaders also makes employees feel more valued, boosts their self-esteem, and motivates them to do even more.
Sometimes, projects don’t go according to plan but it’s also important to show appreciation in these cases for the efforts employees make. This will encourage them to continue to make efforts in the future. As Eric Mosley states in his article The Business Impact of Gratitude: “Many of the 16,000 professionals surveyed expressed the importance of recognizing the effort they put in, their knowledge and expertise, and their commitment to living the organization’s core values, not just the big wins.”
Spread Gratitude
It’s important to remember the effects of gratitude can be contagious. Just a simple thank-you can help brighten someone’s day and pass that positive energy on to others.
You can help to facilitate the spread of gratitude in the workplace by making it part of your company culture:
- Performing acts of kindness such as buying coffee for a coworker.
- Having a gratitude routine, such as naming three things you are grateful for in the morning and setting intentions for your day.
- Showing consideration for everyone’s time.
- Showing politeness by greeting coworkers, smiling, and asking how things are going for them on a regular basis.
- Offering flexible work arrangements to employees.
- Thanking employees regularly and in various ways. By writing thank-you cards, for example.
Perhaps you’re already doing many of these, or maybe there are some new ideas here. At the end of the day, focusing on what we have rather than what we don’t have shifts our thinking to a mindset of abundance rather than lack, making us better leaders for our teams.
CH Consulting Group provides a variety of services to help companies grow and thrive in today’s marketplace, from workforce and performance management to leadership development, training, quality assurance and more. Visit CH Consulting group to learn how we help clients increase revenue, realize efficiencies and maximize ROI.
