Make Gratitude One of Your Workplace Resolutions For 2015!

Image adapted from pictoquotes, Flickr

The new year is upon us! Have you made a commitment to your workplace resolutions for 2015?
One powerful New Year’s resolution to make for 2015 may surprise you. It doesn’t require deprivation, costly equipment or waking up earlier.
In fact, you can start practicing this resolution right away, with no preparation.
The resolution? To be more grateful and share your gratitude.
Read on to find out why gratitude is trending as an HR strategy and why your company’s workplace resolutions for 2015 are incomplete without it.

Gratitude Engages Overwhelmed Employees

Employee engagement has been gaining traction in recent years as an HR strategy to combat low retention and unenthused employees. This year it’s risen to the top. Engaging employees is now the leading challenge in HR, according to the annual Bersin by Deloitte report Predictions for 2015.
“Engagement, retention, culture and inclusion have become front-burner issues,” writes the report’s author, Josh Bersin.
Bersin and his researchers have found that “the overwhelmed employee” is one of the biggest challenges in business today. He explains:

“Workers are flooded with emails and conference calls; they check their mobile device 150 times a day; and, they feel as though they are flooded with demands on a 24/7 basis from colleagues around the world. Psychologists and neurologists tell us that people are multitasking too much, losing sleep and finding work more difficult than ever.”

Meanwhile, it’s easier than ever for employees to voice dissatisfaction with their employers, as LinkedIn, Glassdoor and other social media transform the transparency of the job market.
“If you think about it logically,” Bersin writes, “engagement is all a company really has.”
No silver bullet solution exists to the complicated, company-specific issue of engaging disengaged employees, but Bersin suggests that a focus on mindfulness and company culture can help.
The path to a healthier culture begins with leaders who communicate gratitude to employees and encourage a dialogue based on the principles of gratitude. To this end, Bersin’s model for a “Simply Irresistible Organization” includes:

• Recognition-Rich Culture
• Trust
• Flexible, Humane Work Environment
• Investment in People
• Coaching & Feedback
• Inspiration

Give Real Feedback, Not Stats

When it comes to performance feedback, the numbers-heavy annual review is out. Employees want real feedback, not meaningless stats delivered without explanation.

Make sharing gratitude one of your workplace resolutions! (Photo via Sean Jackson, Flickr)

“New research on the neurology and psychology of work shows that numeric ratings, rankings and formal evaluations without positive feedback actually reduce performance,” Bersin writes.
Performance should be an ongoing, open topic of discussion with regular chances to check in. Bersin describes this as a “culture of conversations.”
When leaders are in ongoing conversations about individual and company performance goals, sharing gratitude not only comes naturally, it’s necessary to this holistic approach to communication. You’re not stamping a grade on an employee’s work — you’re letting them know exactly a) what they do well already, b) what they can do better and c) why it matters to the company.
Gratitude-rich feedback gets results by fostering a sense of “we’re in this together.”

Recognize Employees As People