How to Communicate Appreciation and Gratitude in Your Workplace This Thanksgiving Season
Thanksgiving is more than just a day full of turkey, football and family reunions. The holiday encourages a time of introspection to reflect on life’s blessings. Thanksgiving is a time that reminds us to be grateful and express our appreciation to those around us. This includes employees and coworkers in our workplace. Sometimes, it can seem difficult to know how to best express our gratitude in the workplace though. Here is a list of several tangible ways to effectively communicate thankfulness in your workplace during this Thanksgiving season.
Words of Affirmation
The best way to make sure someone knows you appreciate them is to directly tell them
- Verbally affirm a colleague for their hard work
Publicly recognizing and praising a colleague for a job well done in a meeting is rewarding and motivating to the commended individual. Not only that, but public recognition is motivating for others to work hard as well.
- Send an unexpected message, email or text of encouragement to a colleague
A quick encouraging message goes a long way to help individuals feel supported and cherished.
- Always remember “please” and “thank you”
Even the smallest tasks are handled with greater care and efficiency when a colleague feels respected. Everyone appreciates a more gracious and polite workplace.
Tangible Gifts
Gift-giving is not about the gift itself, but rather expressing appreciation through thoughtfulness
- Present a colleague with a personalized gift
You do not need to break the bank for this gesture to be meaningful. Something as simple as a handwritten note or greeting card can do the trick. Even picking up a coffee for the office caffeine-lover on a dreary Monday expresses thoughtfulness and appreciation.
- Treat someone to a meal
Take colleagues to lunch to display gratitude and celebrate the Thanksgiving
season.
- Give others your undivided attention
Listen to your colleagues and get to know them better as people. Fostering a relationship based on more than just work displays gratitude for individuals, not just their work.
Acts of Service
Sometimes, actions speak louder than words
- Lend a helping hand
Alleviate an inundated colleague’s workload by offering to help and performing the service in the way your colleague wants it done.
- Volunteer to help a colleague with something in your area of expertise
Offering to help complete something you are familiar with rather than letting your colleague spend hours figuring it out shows you respect their time and appreciate their work.
Effectively communicating authentic appreciation and gratitude in the workplace can look a lot of different ways. The best expression begins with verbal words of affirmation and ends with nonverbal acts of service. This Thanksgiving season make sure your gratitude extends beyond your home to the workplace. Try something new from this list to show your colleagues you truly appreciate them!
- Amber Clemens '21
References:
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/top-ways-to-show-appreciation-to-employees-1916807