Gratitude at Work – Wisdom for HR Professionals

This concept of having an attitude of gratitude is catching. But how an organization benefit from instilling gratitude into its culture? I turn to a couple of experts who have nailed it.
Kevin Eikenberry, chief potential officer with The Kevin Eikenberry Group, an organizational consultant firm, says in a post in The Sideroad that giving thanks can be a powerful motivator within organizations. He urges leaders to “be thoughtful in your thankfulness, gracious in your giving, and plentiful in your praise of others,” offering solid tips on how to best show gratitude within the workplace.
Small business owner Trina Bol writes in Biznik.com about how she attacked the issue in her company by encouraging employees to write Gratitude Journals. “Each employee in our company has a standard 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper with the universal symbol of gratitude shaded into the background like a watermark and a simple numbering of 1-5. Each week the employees are to write out 5 things they were grateful for the previous week. The idea is for them to be thinking and looking throughout each work day for what they are grateful for. The start of every staff meeting we go around the room and read our gratitudes out loud for the previous week.”
Bol says that employees frequently came up with more than five things, and sharing their thanks strengthened her team, lead to greater understanding among them, and started many conversations that would never have happened.
At former company of mine, we had weekly “gratitude meetings”.  Every employee had the opportunity to thank others for something during the past week.  Sometimes the thanks were for a big sale, sometimes for a helping hand, sometimes for just plain great work and sometimes for a great laugh.  Often a lot of people thought it was a bit corny…until someone thanked *them*.  Then their attitudes changed.  When co-workers hear a public “thank you” for a job well-done, everyone wants to be in on the act.  It’s infectious.  It strengthens teams.  It creates respect and bonds that didn’t exist before.  And, it accelerates workplace effectiveness.
The bottom line? “We are all genuinely happier and well balanced at work,” Bol says.gThankYou, LLC sells Gift Gertificates  that savvy companies give to show appreciation to employees and customers.  gThankYou^® Ham Gift Certificates, Turkey Gift Certificates, and Grocery Gift Certificates are its best known products.