The Power of Workplace Generosity in Action

Today, Giving Tuesday, recognize the amazing power of workplace generosity!
In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a strong sense of workplace generosity has rallied coworkers around a good cause.
The local United Way reports a significant increase in donations over last year at this time, with several workplace charitable giving programs doubling or tripling their gifts from previous years.
For the workplaces that saw big jumps in their charitable giving to United Way, what made the difference? Support from management and communal generosity fostered through peer-to-peer conversations.
“They demonstrate what can be accomplished when we all work together towards a common goal,” David Nicole, president and CEO of United Way of Allen County, told the Journal Gazette last week.
In previous years, employee giving to United Way at one company had been handled anonymously through a lobby drop box — truly a missed opportunity to build community through workplace generosity!
That’s what Giving Tuesday is all about: building community. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are for scoring deals. Now it’s time to give back. Giving Tuesday the final unofficial post-Thanksgiving holiday and kicks off the spirit of generosity through the December holidays.
This Giving Tuesday, consider the benefits of building a culture of workplace generosity — and why it matters all year, not just during the holidays.

The Lasting Benefits to Generosity

Terry Leahy, longtime CEO of British supermarket chain Tesco, recalls that he started at the company at a young age with a “street kid” attitude — “a little bit hard and combative.” Over the years, he softened his leadership style. He explains in a New York Times Q&A:

I had to learn later that there’s another way to get the best out of people, which is to really motivate them and make them feel good about themselves. So I changed. If I had to sum it up… [be] generous at work rather than selfish.”

Generous leadership builds goodwill and reaps benefits over years. But many benefits of generosity are immediate — to giver and benefactors alike! Acts of generosity are proven to drain away stress, strengthen relationships and mental health, and benefit the greater good, according Huff Post’s The Third Metric.
In the workplace in particular, altruism boosts happiness, improves wellbeing and “makes people feel more committed to their work and less likely to quit,” Huff Post’s Amanda L. Chan writes, citing a University of Wisconsin-Madison study published in the journal American Review of Public Administration.
Study researcher Donald Moynihan said in a statement, “Our findings make a simple but profound point about altruism: Helping others makes us happier. Altruism is not a form of martyrdom, but operates for many as part of a healthy psychological reward system.”
How does your company support all the ways of being generous in the workplace? Generosity is multifaceted:

• charitable giving
• volunteer time
• compassion
• one-on-one attention
• mentoring
• peer-to-peer coaching
• interdepartmental problem solving
• employee recognition
• frequent, sincere appreciation

Celebrate Workplace Generosity!

Giving Tuesday is a fantastic opportunity to rally your team around actionable gratitude and practicing generosity. GivingTuesday.org offers tons of resources to spread the word, even at the last minute: free downloadable graphics, hashtag options, activity ideas, smartphone apps and education toolkits.
Have fun with building workplace generosity today, throughout the holiday season, and year-round!

Learn more about harnessing the power of workplace gratitude in our popular (and free!) eBook, “Transform Your Workplace with Gratitude.” Click the image below and start transforming your workplace today! 

About gThankYou, LLC
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