Gratitude is certainly having a moment. Gratitude journals, gratitude journeys and gratitude prompts have all become common phrases. In fact, ask Google to share the benefits associated with living a grateful life, and you’ll be rewarded with over 83 million results.
Research into gratitude is plentiful and valid, with a recent study from the University of California showing that after only 10 weeks, people who practise gratitude daily feel better about their lives.
They also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation. It’s clear: living a grateful life is good for you, but should it extend into the workplace, and will it benefit your career for the better?
Gallup recently conducted research for WorkHuman, and, after questioning 5,000 employees working for companies based in Western Europe, released From Praise to Profit: The Business Case for Gratitude At Work.
This study found that workers in Ireland, Britain and Belgium are the most burnt out. However, the report also showed that when workers felt recognised for their efforts and experienced gratitude in the workplace, they started to feel they were thriving, and experiencing less burn out.
Similarly, a recent study by the American Psychological Association showed that 93% of employees who feel valued at work are motivated to do their best work, with only 21% planning to look for a new job within the next 12 months. That is a significant drop from the global average of 46%.
This research suggests that the key to a happier work environment is gratitude. Here are a few pointers to get you started.
Be Democratic
Whether you’re a worker or a business owner, gratitude knows no hierarchy. A simple thank you for your help can go a long way and doesn’t overstep if experience levels vary.
Similarly, if you lead a successful project, make sure to thank everybody who worked on it, no matter their contribution level. However, while a thank you is important, so is the sharing of knowledge and results if you want your team to feel motivated and to know that their progression matters.
Cross Boundaries
Do you try to keep your work and personal life private? In theory, that’s the best way to approach the workplace, but when it comes to gratitude you need to blur the lines a little. Allow things that enhance your personal life to help you feel grateful in your work life. Gratitude knows no boundaries.
Set The Tone
Gratitude benefits from a trickle-down effect so if you want to feel the benefits then you need to set the tone. Introduce praise to team meetings, normalise positive emails and get into the habit of saying thank you out loud. In the majority of cases, gratitude is also contagious. Show it once and watch it spread.
There are some occasions in which a workplace is so toxic there is little room for positivity. In this instance, it might be time to simply move on. The Silicon Canals Job Board is full of job opportunities across all sectors and experience levels with companies known for openness and innovation. The three roles highlighted below show the depth of the offering.
IT Project Manager, Burberry (London)
As IT Project Manager with Burberry you will lead on critical delivery projects to deliver on time. You will be responsible for establishing an approach for ensuring the realisation of benefits and the measurement of those benefits against the business case across the entire programme. You’ll have proven leadership and people management expertise, with the ability to prioritise activities and influence internal and external stakeholders to achieve results, as well as experience working across multiple project delivery methodologies (Waterfall, Agile and hybrid).
Apply for this job now, or browse all available opportunities at Burberry.
Product Designer, PayFit (Paris)
As a Product Designer you’ll define, craft, and ship the first usage experiences of PayFit’s users and guide them to find out a better value for their needs. You will work closely with engineers and product managers to define both the long-term strategic roadmap and short-term tactics for upcoming initiatives, and collaborate with other stakeholders to understand their needs and co-construct solutions. This is the role for you if you have business acumen, and you’re not afraid of analytics. You are also experienced in working with a design system, and understand its importance in maintaining consistency and providing a better experience in the product. Get the full details here, or see more jobs at PayFit.
Software Engineer – Partner Tech, Zalando (Berlin)
As a Software Engineer – Partner Tech backend engineer you’ll join a team which builds tools and systems for internal users to onboard merchants as well as allowing merchants to onboard themselves. You will create scalable solutions and get involved with the entire development cycle, from architecture design to implementation, testing and maintenance. To apply you’ll need a solid grasp of computer science fundamentals combined with a strong capacity of solving complex problems as well as experience with building microservices in one of our preferred JVM technologies, like Scala with Akka or cats-effect, or Java. Apply for the Software Engineer – Partner Tech job, or browse all available opportunities at Zalando.