Gratitude opens a positive platform for communication

It is well known that the key to successful relationships, whether they're personal social or business relationships, is communication. The more channels of communication we have, the better our relationships will become. Gratitude opens a new avenue of communication which is 100% positive!

This is particularly important in social care, where the communication of gratitude from the service user to the provider truly validates their tireless hard work. It also key for those working in the social care sector to support and encourage each other and to motivate each other, helping to build strong and productive teams.

Peter Webb, Director of LCAS (London Care and Support) Forum said that "People's expectations of their care providers are often much greater than what has been assessed and what is being paid for by the local authority. So, praise, compliments and useful comments are incredibly helpful to a provider to add to motivate their staff to join into their training programme, to their staff development programme, and that keeps staff on board. And recruitment and retention in social care is difficult. It's a very hard place to work and getting your staff motivated through communication, through praise, through gratitude, working with the people they care for, working with their family, is really very useful".

As we try to redesign the landscape and make practices of gratitude the norm rather than the exception, it is important that we include gratitude expectancy in the training of workers in the social care sector,

As Peter Webb continues, "If you look at staff surveys and client surveys, which are taken quite seriously these days, they add a great deal to training and staff development and that's a key part of providing quality care and adding praise and gratitude into that, into the training side so that people have some expectation is very, very useful".

If there is a level of gratitude that is expected, and these expectations are not only met but surpassed, the mental health of the workforce will improve and this creates a sustained feel-good factor. This can only be a good thing!

When there is a really positive team spirit amongst those working in social care the whole atmosphere of the home will be lifted, and when this happens the level of kindness in care will also improve. There will be a rise in productivity and staff retention will also benefit as people are less likely to want to leave a strong team that has almost become a second family!

As we know both the person performing the act of gratitude or the person receiving it have communication filters relating to gratitude. Gratitude has a high impact on the person expressing the gratitude, giving from the heart without having ulterior motives. The recipient of the gratitude also feels good and knows that their efforts haven't gone unnoticed.

So, as we move into a new age where expressing gratitude is normalised, we will make the world a more positive place, let's put gratitude at the very heart of everything we do!

You can hear more from Peter Webb on TAP's Social Care Radio Show here: https://soundcloud.com/thankandpraise/tap-social-care-radio-show-august-2022