Gratitude in the Workplace: Building a Positive Company Culture

Are you expressing enough gratitude in the workplace as a leader? Gratitude can enhance workplace morale and employee retention. Gratitude should be practiced year-round, but if you need new strategies or a touch-up, it’s a season for gratitude, so there’s no better time to harness this skill.

At Ad Culture, we value talent, people, and hard work. We connect businesses with their “unicorn,” meaning the best-fitting recruit for the role. To retain top talent, businesses need effective strategies. 

We provide various resources to help companies enhance employee retention. We’re providing strategies here to cultivate a thankful work environment to finish the year strong and lead into the next with fire!

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Why it’s So Important to Express Gratitude 

Why do it? Does gratitude make that much of a difference? Is it worth dedicating time and resources to make others feel appreciated? 

Yes! Expressing gratitude is essential for fostering positive relationships and enhancing overall well-being. It not only acknowledges the kindness of others, but also cultivates a sense of appreciation within ourselves.

Boost Respect and Camaraderie

This means relationships between leader and employee, employee and employee, leader and leader, and more will be improved. When expressing gratitude, people feel more respected and valued. The act of being grateful increases the feeling of camaraderie, as positivity and social connection enter the workplace.

Boost Employee Morale and Employee Engagement

People usually feel better when they’re thanked for a job well done or acknowledged for their part in a project. Overall, gratitude makes people feel happier, and that translates to better morale.

Better morale then improves workplace productivity and team connection. When employees feel appreciated for their efforts in the workplace, and happy to be there, they’re more likely to stay, which leads to better retention.

Improve Social Connection and Organizational Positivity

Gratefulness is a positive social concept. This means that when it’s present, it improves the social connection between people, building relationships and easing tension.

Encourage Well-Being and Resilience

Wellness is a key factor in retention and workplace morale. If a company prioritizes its employees’ well-being through appreciation, they’ll feel happier in the workplace and lower the absentee rate.

Appreciation where applicable can also counteract negative conversations. For example, discussing cutbacks, department-level changes, or mistakes. If an employee is only ever dealing with the negative, they won’t feel happy in their role. If they experience more positivity than negativity, they’ll become more resilient to negative circumstances, since that’s not all they encounter.

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Creating a Culture of Gratitude in the Workplace

Start Meetings by Expressing Gratitude

Staff meetings can often be stressful for employees, especially if it’s to discuss something difficult, such as a stressful project, an evaluation, or a big change. Start the meeting with some workplace gratitude. It can be as simple as saying, “Thank you for setting aside some time today. I know you have a busy day.”

Starting things off by fostering gratitude sets the tone for the meeting and immediately lifts the employee’s spirits. It helps employees become more present.

This can also be turned into a quick group discussion at the beginning of a meeting to highlight what everyone is grateful for at that time. This inspires positivity and inspiration, and has a positive impact on employee satisfaction. 

Implement Creative Tactics

“Appreciation” and “gratefulness” often make people think first of saying thank you, or listing something they’re grateful for. While these are still important parts, businesses should get creative with gratitude at work.

Start a 30-day gratitude challenge, where employees and leaders act on appreciation each day. Consider a gratitude journal or a public achievement board to showcase wins and appreciation for the week. Spread the positivity. Use software where employees can leave messages for other employees about how they achieved something and helped the team.

Practice Accepting Gratitude

Some people might find it easy to express gratitude to another, but difficult to accept it when directed at them. This creates a one-sided discussion for appreciation, and it’s something that should be both given and received.

Take time to become comfortable with gratitude or compliments from others (especially as a leader who should set the standard). Instead of skirting around the compliment or redirecting it, simply say “Thank you” or “I appreciate it.” As silly as it might seem, it can help to practice this in front of a mirror.

Create Gratitude-Giving Opportunities

Gratitude might be harder to come by if there’s never a chance to share it. As a leader, set aside time or create prompts to encourage employees (or other leaders) to be grateful.

Some ideas include: 

• a weekly appreciation post where employees are encouraged to share something someone recently did that they were grateful for;
• a few minutes at the end of the meeting to talk about a win; or 
• sending someone a gift card through a company’s appreciation fund.

Appreciate Differences 

Not every employee is the same, and wins, accomplishments, or assists can look different every day. Even if the win wasn’t achieved in the manner a leader would have thought, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be acknowledged and appreciated.

By celebrating different ideas, processes, and milestones, there will be more to be grateful for, more people will be included, and new operating procedures could come to light.

Acknowledge More Than the Obvious 

What are some examples of obvious things to feel grateful for in the workplace? 

• When the project is complete 
• When someone solves a problem 
• When the KPI is met 
• When a solid presentation is delivered 

These are great times to cultivate gratitude, but they’re not the only ones. Less obvious moments worth appreciating include when someone admits a mistake and fixes it, when a person addresses a flaw without hesitation, and when a team finds a better solution after weeks of work. Recognizing these moments fosters camaraderie, compassion, and understanding, creating a grateful workplace.

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Find More to Be Grateful for With Top Talent

Build a positive company culture by expressing gratitude in the workplace. Start by hiring new employees from the best candidates, then boost productivity and morale by showing appreciation through more than a yearly pizza party. 

Ready to add talent to your hardworking team? Hire talent now.