Being thankful and gracious on a regular basis can be important in a multitude of ways; from helping us to feel happier, to reducing stress and anxiety. If you do any research on the benefits that can come with appreciating the good in life, you’re likely to find that it can be effective when applied to more than just an individual’s personal outlook.
Both employees and owners of an agency can benefit from implementing active recognition into their work life too; just read this article from Forbes to see for yourself. In many instances, being gracious can greatly help to improve the atmosphere of a workplace, often helping everyone to get along better, increasing productivity, and more.
Because of this, we’re certain that you’ll be interested in creating a more sensitive atmosphere within your place of work.
What’s the best way to put gratitude into action?
By taking a quick look online, you’re likely to find that there are a wide variety of ways that you can help yourself to feel more grateful; you could for instance find 10 great ideas right here in this article by Lifehack.
When it comes to a business, it can often be a wise idea to ensure that you share positive customer feedback with everyone, and finding ways to express your thankfulness within the workforce can make a difference (perhaps you could bring in some food, or perhaps get a small gift that you know would be appreciated).
These are just a few examples of things you could do, but one method that you’ll certainly find efficient is having a gratitude jar.
Why should you use one?
Also known as a happiness jar, the idea is that you write down when you feel grateful for something and put it into a container to read later on. This is something that is commonly implemented at homes to help people in their personal life – but it can be used to create a more positive atmosphere in your place of work, too.
You could leave a jar and pieces of paper in a common area for employees to write down something they feel thankful for (like behind the helpdesk, or in the kitchen). You could read them all out at the end of the day, at your next all-staff meeting, or any time that you think will suit your business and be beneficial to everyone.
One of the best things of all is that it’s often so easy to bring into your agency; in short, all you’re going to need is a container, a pen, and some paper. With a little bit of effort to put gratitude in there, you could make quite a big difference to how you and your employees feel; and increase everyone’s productivity, too.
How can you get employees to use it?
It can certainly be easy for something to be set aside and for staff to simply forget – and by the time you get everyone together to read from the container, you may find that there are only a few pieces of paper (if any at all).
To help avoid this, you could make a point of finding something you acknowledge every day to put in yourself, and encourage others to do the same. If everyone can make a habit of adding just one thing a day, there will be plenty of recognition to go around.
What can you put in a gratitude jar?
You and your staff can put anything you want inside the container, just as long as it reinforces positivity and appreciation. To help start everybody off, you could even have a list of sentence starters and general ideas, such as:
- Today I’m happy because…
- Thank you…
- … made me smile
- Today I gave/received
- I’m grateful to/for
These are just a few suggestions that can help to inspire employees to write something nice, and show how appreciative they are of those around them. There are so many sources that can show you just how effective being grateful can be; this article by ConsultNet is just one of many excellent examples.
Many people say that in life you get what you give, so why not give your staff the opportunity to share some positivity and see for yourself just how far it’ll go?
Lee Chambers is an environmental psychologist and well-being consultant. He is the founder of Essentialise.
