Gratitude Builds Great Company Cultures
We spend so much of our lives at work that we’re hardly ever at home with our loved ones. Sometimes we resent the workplace culture because we don’t feel that we can be our true selves. Gratitude helps to build great company cultures by creating psychologically safe spaces, where everyone’s voices are heard, and everybody feels that they are welcomed and that they belong. When we live gratefully and seek gratitude in every situation it will lift the entire work environment.
When people are unhappy at work it is often about pay and working conditions. These ‘working conditions’ may refer to the facilities and the equipment at their disposal but the working conditions also apply to the workplace vibe, the feelings we get from the colleagues we surround ourselves with throughout our working lives. Many employees change companies not because of the wage or even the job itself but because of the atmosphere created in the company. If it is toxic, unhappy and stressful people will seek jobs elsewhere. If we feel appreciated, we are likely to stay with a company, and we will try even harder to achieve even more.
In the workplace, people are together all the time. We rely on other members of the team constantly, expecting them to do their bit so we can do ours, but do we take the time to thank them? Often the answer is no, maybe because we are short of time and maybe because we take them for granted. A simple thank you only takes a second and it might just make their day, give them a little burst of positivity that urges them to continue acting kindly and work even harder.
Gratitude has no barriers, whether we show it to our peers, our subordinates or our superiors. If we practice deep gratitude and take every opportunity to thank our coworkers, this gratitude will become contagious and spread throughout the company. It will make the workplace a happier place where everyone is concerned about everyone’s wellbeing. We can use the power of gratitude to encourage each other, and this will make it easier for us to open up and ask for help when we ourselves are struggling.
When the workplace is powered through gratitude we can celebrate every achievement, no matter how big or small. Gratitude makes all these work-based achievements stronger and more validated and builds more powerful teams and makes the individual and the teams as a whole feel like they belong and are achieving something meaningful.
We never stop learning or improving, sometimes we will fail, everyone does! But we can use these failures as opportunities for growth and self-development. If these failures are reframed as opportunities through the power of gratitude, we can encourage those around us, thank them for their efforts even if we didn’t reach the desired conclusion and that will spur them on to overcome these obstacles and achieve even more next time!
When we create a great company culture by harnessing the power of gratitude it will make our whole life feel more balanced. We won’t dread going to work, we will be able to even look forward to going to work because we know that we can truly be ourselves and the environment will be supportive, and our efforts will be appreciated.
When we express gratitude regularly we will set an example for our co-workers and this will give them the tools to contribute to the happy workplace. Showing them what gratitude looks like is a big step; if we make gratitude the norm, everyone will feel it’s natural and easier to show their appreciation. Silent gratitude doesn’t benefit anyone, but just a few words of appreciation can really make a big difference. Let’s keep using the power of gratitude to reinforce our core values and create, sustain and grow great company cultures!