Gratitude as a means to Organisational Wellness
Early this week, the CEO of our company shared this article on ‘Leading with Gratitude.’
One side of me was trying to understand and share how we are polarized, while the other side was starting to look at different ways to say Thank You.
While this post focuses on workplace family, I am sure this applies to other relationships and societies.
We are all polarized in many ways, and most times, showing vulnerability is considered a sign of weakness. But Gratitude is way powerful than we understand it to be.
We have not reached our present situation in life, alone; sometimes, it’s people around us; sometimes- against us. Circumstances and situations and everything invisible have helped us in some way or the other to shape us into what we are today.
Gratitude is critical as human beings forget the good beyond a point.
Managers who lead teams and Leaders who lead organizations tend to slip when we are more tactical, which means we have to get work done, and the team members become resources. In getting the job done, our focus is on just that.
We need to find ways to break that cycle to be empathetic to our team and the people who work with us.
Just saying Thank You or being concerned about their welfare will go a long way. Especially in this Pandemic timeframe, whether you do it intending to retain people or improve productivity, do it because you are human, and so is everyone else. Showing gratitude, in a way, is paying it forward. What goes around comes around.
I see my ex-colleagues and other network connections use the LinkedIn platform to appreciate their colleagues and team members, specifically by calling out names. In the past decade, one company I worked for has people doing it weekly(probably a coincidence but more is better). It indeed goes a long way. It probably makes the day for the person who might be going through a tough time at work.
When I worked for a Telecommunications, Networking, and Mobile Giant, they used to have a Recognition system where managers and those higher up in the hierarchy would have a specific budget and few options for recognizing people with whom they have worked. They could either send an e-card or gift voucher. The impact was evident!
Many companies do Spot Awards, Customer Satisfaction Agent, and many other awards monthly or quarterly, and so on.
Encourage those winners to share their accolades on social platforms, whether on LinkedIn or Facebook, or your intranet portal. Or the Human Resources Team can share it as a practice.
I usually drop in a ‘Thank You, Universe!’ on Facebook as I am sometimes overwhelmed with Gratitude for what the Universe has given me.
In this pandemic era, showing Gratitude truly goes a long way. Let’s make it the multi-vitamin we take to better our mental health as well as that of others near and dear to us.
I can only hope each one can think of a timeboxed schedule in their calendar(or a tiny habit) to think beyond their role in the company to their role in this world.
The impact is not- I scratch your back; you scratch my back. The effect is the chain reaction you start by showing Gratitude, Empathy, etc. The world surely can use more positivity now!
