How expressing gratitude can transform your work and life

NEW YORK — The first thing Alison C. Jones does when she wakes up is to name three things she's grateful for. It can be as simple as the breeze from a fan or as meaningful as the way a friend showed up for her emotionally.

Jones, an organizational development consultant, said the daily practice has helped her through hardships and the anxiety and vulnerability of starting her own business as a single mom.

''When you practice gratitude, you train your brain to always look for the positive in anything. It just completely shifts everything you're going through,'' she said. ''You start to see the lessons in the pain. You start to see the beauty in the very difficult times because you realize, ‘Hey, I'm growing stronger.'''

Practicing and encouraging gratitude can be a simple way to boost morale at a time when layoffs and economic uncertainty are causing stress and anxiety. Some employers have found that workers who receive expressions of gratitude show more engagement and willingness to help others.

Other proponents say expressing and receiving appreciation can help reduce stress, as well as improve a person's mood and outlook.

But despite its benefits, promoting gratefulness is often overlooked as a valuable way to spend time and resources in the workplace.

Experts in organizational change shared ways to incorporate more gratitude into the workday.

Start small

If you're new to practicing gratitude, you can start at home with a routine such as Jones' custom of expressing gratitude before getting out of bed.

She made her gratitude practice easy so it would become a sustainable habit. Her one rule is avoiding repetition and stretching her mind to find new things to be grateful for each day.

Jones also recommends finding a ''gratitude buddy'' to share with. A buddy may be a friend from work or your social circles, and ideas can be exchanged in person, by text or email, or during a phone call. Many people find it helpful to list what they're grateful for in a journal.

Cultivating gratitude in the workplace

At work, a team leader can begin a staff meeting by expressing gratitude for what went well in the last week, suggested Peter Bonanno, a consultant who helps companies design mindfulness-based programs.

As humans, we often have a bias toward negativity, but gratitude ''just does an enormous amount to shift people's mindsets and the way they engage with each other,'' he said. ''Gratitude is especially powerful in that way. It doesn't take a long time for people to notice an impact.''

O.C. Tanner Institute, a software and service company, helps organizations find effective ways to show appreciation to their employees, such as managers giving handwritten notes of thanks. The company helped American Airlines develop a system for managers and colleagues to recognize good work with points that can be applied to a catalog order.

It also helped Amway create gift boxes to celebrate workers' accomplishments and important personal milestones, such as buying a home or adopting a child.

''Recognition impacts so many facets of the employee experience. And when you do it well, it connects people back to a deep sense of purpose and meaning,'' said Meghan Stettler, a director at O.C. Tanner.

Some companies donate their own products to thank nurses, doctors, police officers, firefighters and other workers who serve their communities. Frontline Builders, a nonprofit organization launched during the pandemic, connects donors of snacks, drinks and personal care items with recipients.

''We've all worked in that job where we weren't shown gratitude and realized how much that stinks,'' said Jason Lalak, partnership director at Frontline Builders. ''Showing someone gratitude or showing appreciation doesn't really cost anything, and shouldn't be that difficult of a thing, and yet it's rarer than it should be.''

Registered nurse Denise Wittsell remembers how quiet the hospital where she works became during the pandemic. The hallways of Denver Health, typically busy with families and guests, were suddenly empty as visits from outsiders were curtailed and patients battled illnesses alone.

Once in a while, someone from the community would deliver gifts of gratitude: tasty snacks or handmade cards from schoolchildren.

''Those spontaneous recognitions were really sweet,'' Wittsell said. ''It just felt really kind, and it felt like there was a lot of wrapping around us, a very supportive feeling.''

Taking it further

Wittsell is part of a team of volunteers at Denver Health's RESTORE program, which connects front-line hospital workers with trained peer responders for confidential emotional support.

The hospital started the program as a way to improve and sustain the emotional well-being of its workforce, said Tia Henry, the program's director. Volunteers take shifts so someone is available around-the-clock to answer calls from hospital personnel who are struggling with stressful events such as losing a patient or witnessing violence.

Volunteers and staff regularly express gratitude for the program, Henry said.

''I've had calls on my way to work: ‘I'm having a hard time and I need to talk with somebody who gets it,''' Wittsell said. ''It's a good way to give back to the people that I work with."

Aside from peer support, RESTORE also provides training and education to employees about stress, burnout and techniques to deescalate violence, Henry said.

''We're not doing counseling or therapy, but we're using components of psychological first aid to truly engage timely with our teammates when they're distressed, helping them calm their nervous system and get back to the place of regulation where they can show back up and do what it is they need to do or they can lay something down and go back home,'' Henry said. ''That is gratitude from my lens.''

Indy Public Safety Foundation, an Indianapolis nonprofit organization that supports front-line workers, shows gratitude to police, firefighters and paramedics through awards banquets, trainings, and showing up with food, shaking hands and saying thank you after a community tragedy.

Foundation staff members take gratitude a step further by providing tools and equipment such as electric bikes for police patrols.

While front-line workers were applauded during the pandemic, "their work has continued and arguably not gotten any less stressful, and some of that support has waned,'' said Dane Nutty, the foundation's president and CEO.

Work for change

While practicing gratitude may make for a more pleasant on-the-job environment, it's not a replacement for better working conditions. It's good to be grateful to have a job that pays the bills. It's also important to ask for what's fair.

''Being grateful absolutely doesn't mean that we accept anything subpar or inappropriate,'' Jones said, adding that people should advocate for basic needs such as meal breaks. ''It's important not to confuse gratitude with being passive."

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