The Surprising Things That Happen When Leaders Inject Gratitude at Workplace
What is #CelebrateWithProofhub?
Several months ago, ProofHub decided that employee shouldn’t be celebrated just one day (employee appreciation day), but it should be a daily practice where everyone gets to experience a little appreciation in some way. And the results: a happier and healthier working environment!
What is the scenario in your workplace? Have you ever thought of what would it look like if we infused a whole lot of gratitude into the workplace? After all, employees spend the majority of their waking hours at the workplace, it should be filled with more joy, gratitude, and happiness. Isn’t it?
Sometimes, in our busy lives, we get caught up — so caught up that we forget to smell the roses. Not just that, we forget to practice the “attitude of gratitude”. Gratitude — the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
When was the last time you actually showed gratitude to your teammates for their efforts? When did you last thank them for their contributions?
During our childhood, expressing gratitude was one of the first things our parents told us to follow. We were always reminded to say thank you to any relative, shopkeepers, strangers and anyone who called us cute or gave us something. Then, we were told to thank anyone who gave us a helping hand whenever we needed it. Thank the waiter who serves the food, thank anyone who does your work or does something for you. And yet, surprisingly, we forget to follow this at the workplace.
Rewinding a few years ago, I stumbled upon a book called Gratitude at Work: How to Say Thank You, Give Kudos, and Get the Best From Those You Lead by April Kelly. As I read the book, it hit me like a ton of bricks. This book discusses the importance of gratitude in the workplace, and how it can help any leader boost employee morale and feeling of worth to their company.
Be appreciative — This is something we take very seriously at ProofHub and our culture is definitely built upon this core value. I doubt if anyone in our team feels they are taken for granted. Down here, have a look at an example on how you can use ProofHub announcements to appreciate success and make other team members part of the celebration too:
Why Should All Leaders Practice Gratitude at Work?
Sharing your gratitude with others helps to fill their proverbial glasses and even grows the cycle of gratefulness. Here are a few science-backed benefits of gratitude:
- The research said that employees who were thanked by their managers made 50% more fundraising calls than their co-workers.
- Studies even say that grateful people tend to have better well-being and healthier hearts.
- Studies show that grateful people face fewer toxic emotions, like resentment and envy.
- A study found that gratitude evokes the feeling of employees being more responsive for the organization.
- Research suggests that gratitude is directly linked to people being happy with their jobs.
- In a study, it was found that showing gratitude enhances the self-esteem of employees.
How to Show Gratitude
The studies talk about gratitude a lot. Now, how do you go about implementing the attitude of gratitude at your workplace? Let it be genuine, objective, frequent, and specific.
Show Gratitude With Objective
Acts of gratitude can be used to apologize, make changes and help solve other problems. When expressing gratitude, your gratitude has to have an ultimate objective. It’s hard to be grateful to nothing or to have gratitude in a vacuum. Whether you are thanking them for high production or for being innovative and flexible or completing the project before the deadline, specify your purpose. I’ve got a great idea for this. You can try ProofHub announcements where you can simply inform, announce or communicate anything to anyone, appreciate a job well done or recognize someone’s achievement — it is one great way to motivate teams.
Gratitude is Genuine
Your employees will know when your gratitude is genuine. Take some time to think about which way your employees will be more comfortable accepting gratitude. Example, if he is a quiet employee that worked overtime to deliver work on deadline, maybe he won’t prefer to be called out in the middle of a big meeting to be thanked.
Along with specifying the objective, be genuine (how what he did actually means to you). This will signal that you respect the person on the other end. Never use canned praise — if you want to come across as genuine, you have to be genuine. You know simply when you intentionally exercise gratitude on a daily basis, you will cultivate genuine gratitude.
Gratitude is Frequent
There shouldn’t be one day for expressing gratitude. Everyone and everything around is contributing extra in some or the way. Find it out and be thankful. Gratitude is a daily effort and you’ll never be able to build your gratitude muscle if do not express it frequently. There are a lot of things to be grateful for. You have to think about it — frequently.
Gratitude is Specific
At times what you just need is to show them you understand what their efforts have done for the company. Be specific because, without it, it is meaningless. Showing this will give them the fuzzies.
Here are some examples of specific gratitude.
“I’m really thankful for the way you handled the client call. You were so expressive and calm and saved us out from losing the major client. Thanks for doing that.”
“By the way, thank your efforts you did last night. I know I bugged you late at night but it was really urgent and you did it so well. Thank you for your hard work.”
When they know that you know what they have contributed, they feel good.
In short, appreciation is an action, thank you is a simple word and gratitude is a practice. You can be appreciative, thankful, and grateful all at the same time!
Conclusion
Don’t limit your gratitude to your personal life. By expressing at work you will help make your workplace a positive environment.
Gratitude at the workplace, yes, it works!
We have put forward our thoughts. We’d now love to know your thoughts on how important gratitude at the workplace is or how does your leader show gratitude at the workplace.
About Author:
Vartika Kashyap runs the marketing team at ProofHub— a project management software for teams of all sizes. She is a seasoned marketing professional who is an expert in digital marketing and entrepreneurship. She’s been featured among LinkedIn’s Top Voices for the year 2017 & 2018. Connect with Vartika on LinkedIn, Medium and Twitter.
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