Expressing Gratitude in the Workplace
Gratitude, although simple in theory, is a complex notion. We live in a world today where people feel they cannot rely on others to succeed; if you want to win you have to do it yourself.
It’s never just about you.
Gratitude, for me, is not just being thankful when someone does something nice for me. Gratitude, for me, is showing others — the ones who work tirelessly in stressful and thankless jobs — that you appreciate them. It’s thanking the ones who never expect to be thanked.
I’m a Project Manager and I work with software engineers and other technical roles. These jobs can be quite stressful at times, especially when the work being performed is revenue generating and contributes directly to the growth of the company. They often work late hours, sometimes through weekends and holidays, writing code to keep the business going. Behind the scenes, we have operations folks who address issues in the middle of the night.
A lot of this work is never seen, but if things go wrong, believe me, people know. Things can go right 99 out of 100 times, but when things do go wrong, that’s unfortunately the only time people seem to take notice. But notice is needed, perhaps even more importantly, when things go right.
That is why I try to take a little bit out of my day to thank my engineers — to let them know that they are the ones who make my job easy (and sometimes difficult) — either by saying it, writing motivational e-mails, bringing in baked goodies especially for them, or having tea-time in the afternoon. Without them, there would be no me, and that makes it effortless to express my gratitude for them. I think that I like to show this appreciation not so much because it makes me feel good, but because it makes them feel good.
I once had a manager who was a friend, a mentor, and the person I strived to be professionally. She never judged me, always sought to help me grow, learn, and reflect. One day, she admitted to me that she was telling her boyfriend about the work I was doing and how she appreciated me, but never told me. He had said to her, “tell her right now,” and, with that, she fired away an e-mail to me on the spot.
It was a very simple, one-line e-mail that said, “Thank you: For being an amazing worker, supporter, advocate and generally a deep thinking, incredibly insightful individual.”
It’s been five years and I still have that e-mail.
It made my life. I had been struggling at the time wondering if I really fit in, wondering if I was doing a good job. I felt like I worked really hard and no one seemed to care. That one e-mail changed everything; I suddenly knew in that instant how she felt about me and how she would always feel about me. My manager would pass away shortly thereafter and it was then I realized that I never wanted to let a chance go by without letting someone know I appreciated them. And so I make a conscious effort every single day to show my gratitude towards others.
Gratitude is more than just saying thank you; it’s acknowledging that you cannot do everything in this world alone and expressing a deep appreciation for the people who get you through the day.
