Express Mindfulness and Gratitude at Work
Now more than ever, there is an importance for employees to encourage and appreciate gratitude and mindfulness in or from their workplace. After several weeks working from home, these expressions can be lost through virtual communication, but we must find a way to create this culture within the workplace. As stated in The Importance of Gratitude and Mindfulness in the Workplace, by Emma Leyton, “…66% of employees would likely leave their job if they didn’t feel appreciated. That is why creating a culture of mindfulness and gratitude, where employees are encouraged to speak up about who they are grateful for in the workplace, is key.” Many times people lose these expressions through stress geared by deadlines, meetings, phone calls, or simply just work, if you think about it we spend 2/3’s of our lives at our jobs, so we have to learn to practice gratitude for our wellbeing and productivity.
Right now, it probably feels like practicing these two expressions is simple working from home, but let me tell you something, it is not that easy. We somehow feel obligated to have our laptop chained to our hip even if we accomplish an 8-hour shift and keep responding to emails late into the night. That may not be as productive as you think it is, you must learn to step back for a little and be mindful of your life satisfaction to reduce burnout and turnover. We need to begin challenging ourselves to expand our mindfulness and gratitude before we head back into the office. So how can you get your entire office to express mindfulness and gratitude to manage stress, recognize the good throughout the day, and reinvent confidence and productivity?
5 MINUTE – FOCUS AND MAKE IT SPECIFIC
Before starting with your workday in the morning begin to make a list (physically or mentally) on what you are grateful for at work. Do this for a week, keep the list short and specific. Not only will this help you get rid of the bad habit of complaining throughout the day, but it will raise your enthusiasm and lower your stress.
STAY CONSISTENT
We get it, work gets tough and people do need recognition even if it’s a small “thank you” or “great job, glad you could help” because nothing speaks volumes like showing up and giving it your all and not receiving a mindful thank you or a special mention for a task that was overlooked or for the stressful work of completing a deadline.
STIMULATE A CULTURE OF RECOGNITION
Showing gratitude and recognition can get a little tough, so what better way to start the new tone in your work environment than having your bosses and managers set the tone. They as well as everyone else must make showing appreciation a priority and demonstrating it. It can be as easy as sending a quick message or video call through Teams or Slack to their employees and calling out the great work everyone has been doing, highlighting the achievements of an individual, or keeping the tradition of monthly office meetings, lunches, or events.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT EMPLOYEES REALLY WANT
Most workplaces think that just saying “thank you” is enough to show gratitude and be mindful of all employees, but that is not the only way to reward your employees and increase productivity. We will not talk about pay increases or bonuses, what I am talking about is benefits. Benefits really drive employees! You have to listen to what your employees want for themselves and their team members; it can range from health insurance, life insurance, dental/vision insurance, paid holidays, paid/sick time-off, employee activities, reimbursable expenses, 401K plans, retirement benefits, etc. You would be surprised how many employees in a lot of companies do not even get half of these benefits.
Reference:
LEYTON, E.L. (2018, April 13). THE IMPORTANCE OF GRATITUDE AND MINDFULNESS IN THE
WORKPLACE. FITBIT HEALTH SOLUTION. https://healthsolutions.fitbit.com/blog/the-importance-of-gratitude-and-mindfulness-in-the-workplace/#:~:text=Feeling%20valued%20at%20work%20is,in%20the%20workplace%2C%20is%20key