Gratitude is an attitude. Authentic gratitude increases profits in your business, and in your life.
That might not mean profits in terms of money, but maybe profits in other areas. Sometimes having an attitude of gratitude means that you have a positive environment around you. Everyone’s happy, everything is going well, and things get done on time. There’s less stress, fewer health issues, and people feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement as part of your business.
Studies show that employees pick up on the attributes of their superiors at work, so as a business owner it’s your responsibility to pass on your attitude of gratitude.
Gratitude Towards Employees
You’ve got to be grateful for your employees as individual people, not just for their job or one task they’ve done well. You need to recognize and understand their qualities and attributes so they understand that you really do appreciate them for who they are.
Part of that means recognizing that people recognize gratitude in different ways. It’s similar to the five “Love Languages,” right? Everyone has their own language for accepting gratitude. Some people like to be praised in front of the entire company, while others would rather have a one-on-one conversation. Sometimes people respond to rewards and incentive programs.
Understanding your employees takes time and practice. So you can start with more general ways of showing gratitude as you figure out how each individual team member responds to appreciation.
Start With Leadership
Whether the leadership in your business is just you, or it’s you and a floor manager and supervisors, everyone needs to embrace an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude needs to be part of their daily interactions with not just your team, but with customers and clients. It’s the little things that show people that your gratitude is really authentic.
It might feel awkward at first, but people like to be appreciated. And when they feel that gratitude coming from you, they’ll show you some appreciation as well.
Gratitude as Your Company’s Culture
You want to have an attitude of gratitude ingrained in the culture of your business, because that’s what really takes you to the next level. The gratitude starts with you and your leadership, and then it passes down the chain to the people interacting with your customers. Make showing appreciation part of your regular staff meetings. If you already have an employee of the month program, see what you can do to make it more authentic.
It doesn’t need to be a big change. In fact, when your employees see small but authentic changes in the company, that does a lot to improve workplace effectiveness and job satisfaction. And that leads to better profits overall. People like coming to work or shop in a happy, positive environment.
Be Authentic
I think one of the hardest things when we’re first trying to implement gratitude is feeling like we’re coming off as cheesy. But the more you do it, and the more you consciously try to be grateful, the easier it will be and the more you’ll see the improvements. So if you’re stuck getting started, try writing down the top five things you were grateful for at the end of the day. Soon it will come naturally and you’ll see the morale of your business improve.
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