On 22nd March, we expressed our gratitude (by clapping) to the Doctors and the frontline staffs who involved in the battle against COVID 19. In general, how often do we stop by and acknowledge the work of others, in particular the lower level staff?
Aspire Systems (India) Private Limited, a US-based company, located in Chennai and Hyderabad in India, celebrates ‘Housekeeper's Day’ to celebrate and acknowledge those who make the work easier. On this day, the company conducts special events for them. They distribute mementos and gifts. The celebration is done in recognition of their outstanding efforts. The housekeeping people do all odd jobs and ensure that everything to facilitate the smooth flow of the work operations. Their effort should be acknowledged, recognized and gesture of gratitude must be expressed. When the workers are thanked and celebrated, they will not be just happy but they will also tend to be loyal. When the thanking is sincere and specific, particularly about their work contribution, the workers feel very proud of their skills. It elevates their self-esteem. By thanking specifically, we are making them realize how valuable contributions they have made.
Gratitude expression has dual consequences:
The one who expresses gratitude, it alters their outlook towards life. In an experimental study among the students, the professor asked them to maintain a gratitude journal. In the journal, students were asked to write regularly about someone or something to which they feel grateful in their life. After 3 weeks, it was found that the students’ depression level had come down significantly compared to those students who didn’t maintain those journals. This is the health consequences of experiencing gratitude in our daily life.
What if we express gratitude regularly?
When we express gratitude to a person who helped us or to our partner (friend or spouse), it strengthens our relationship with them. While we express gratitude, we tend to recall the good things done by them in our life. We tend to focus and correlate on the positive (blessings) things with them. Therefore, expressing gratitude indeed changes our perception towards others.
Imbibing ‘gratitude expression’ culture in an organization, serves many purposes: The workers try to look for positive things (so that they can express their gratitude); Gratitude expression amongst the workers strengthen their relationship; This will have an impact on work performance as well.
“All we have is all we need. All we need is the awareness of how blessed we are”
- Sarah Ban Breathnach
(Author, Philanthropist and Public speaker)