Positive psychology is needed in the world of work to ensure that every employee has positive emotions, cares about their well-being, and that these positive factors can contribute to their meaningful life. The positive psychology concept can be applied to almost every aspect of work life so that each individual can improve their interpersonal relationships, reduce stress, and reshape workplace dynamics. One method that can be done in the office related to positive psychology is engaging in gratitude activities. These activities and practices will train employees to cultivate and express appreciation and gratefulness.
Is gratitude an activity?
Yes, because gratitude is something that helps us to manage stress and have tough emotions. Practicing gratitude makes us learn about appreciating what we already have. Gratitude is not only feelings, but our actions too. By getting used to gratitude in the workplace, employees can increase their well-being, improve mental and physical health, self-esteem, and relationships with coworkers.
What are the benefits of gratitude?
There are many health benefits of gratitude when it becomes habitual and part of the employee's thought process. Taking time to be grateful may reduce depression, less anxiety, relieve stress, increases mental strength, enhances empathy, building relationships, increases productivity, overall psychological well-being. Teaching gratitude activities will make employees have good and positive habits that can be used to have a positive impact on work life or everyday life.
Top gratitude activities for employees
The purpose of thanksgiving activities is to increase employee engagement and performance. If employees can have stronger relationships with other people, then team building will be easier to carry out. Let's see what exercises employees can do to appreciate the work environment and everyone in it.
- Gratitude wall
- Thank you notes
Thank you notes include gratitude exercise which is good for employees. Each individual can write a thank you note to the team, to the coworkers, or higher-ups as a great way to show gratitude. Teach every employee not to be embarrassed to say thank you directly to coworkers or higher-ups, because every positive action will bring something good to yourself.
12 Employee Shout Outs to Give Thanks to Your Coworkers
Encourage each team player to send thank you notes to each individual in the team, so that each employee feels recognized by each other.
- Daily reflections
Every employee will have negative thoughts about work which makes them have job dissatisfaction and stress. To overcome this, every employee needs to be trained to carry out daily reflections to offset work stress. This activity can start with reflection at the end of the workday, giving workers a few minutes to list three things they can be grateful for from the day. Give each employee a free journal to write their reflections. At the end of each week, give employees time to highlight anything in themselves that needs improvement. The team leader can deliver major team actions that can be appreciated during the week.
- Milestone celebrations
Celebrating personal and team milestones will teach every employee that their work will be appreciated and always monitored. Every employee will feel happy when whatever they do is noticed by higher-ups, because they can also get praise or feedback about their work. Make sure you hold celebrations by inviting employees to lunch or dinner, while showing what good things the team has done up to this point. You can encourage employees to determine celebration themes and prepare special gifts for teams that have reached certain milestones.
- Paid time off
Paid time off will seem simple, but has a powerful effect on employees. Paid days are effective because many employees are still struggling to balance family, work and play. You can give time off to employees so they can hang out with family and friends, or simply go for a movie. There is nothing more gratifying than receiving a “take the day off tomorrow” higher-ups after the team has worked hard and achieved positive results for the company. This simple act can be a means for employees to recharge and feel more grateful after they return to work.
- Office equipment upgrade
Why is equipment upgrade included in gratitude activities? Because it is a sign that the office always cares about the needs of its employees inside and out. Upgrading work or non-work equipment is a gesture from the company to show its gratitude for employee performance. You can conduct a survey about what updates in the office employees want, or surprise the employees with a remarkable upgrade. For instances. You can buy a coffee machine or mini fridge in the work area for employee comfort while working. You can also ask employees to take part in the new layout after the equipment upgrade.
- Surprise gift deliveries
Deliver gifts to the team members' home while they are at work. For example, you can give gifts in the form of wine gift sets with thank you notes, hampers, fruit baskets, or grocery shopping. So that the families of workers who are at home can notify those who are still in the office if there is a surprise gift from the office. They will feel grateful because the office secretly gave them a gift, and let them ask what event the office has going on to hold such a surprise.
- Wall of fame
A wall of fame is created to display pictures of well-performing workers. Every employee can get the same opportunity, so that they can compete to compete in a healthy manner, and provide mutual support for employees who have a good attitude and performance at work. Encourage each employee to post gratitude notes around the employee's picture. A wall of fame will make the entire company realize the importance of hard work. Every hard work will be appreciated, and become a new enthusiasm for other employees.
- Field trip
Organizing a field trip outside of working hours not only appreciates workers, but also makes an effort to foster team relationships. You can invite employees to go hiking, local museum, botanical garden, winery tour, or activities chosen by brainstorming results from employees and create new memories among them. The trip doesn't have to be expensive, but you need to think about what activities can foster employee's relationships.
- Lunch treat
Food is one way to show gratitude from the company to employees. You can offer workers to choose where they want to have lunch, offer lunch for a week, or give workers a box of snacks that they can share with their family at home.
A lunch treat is a suitable opportunity for higher-ups and employees to gather, while having fun together discussing things outside of work. With lots of activities to gather and discuss things outside of work, employees will feel closer to everyone without any gaps.
- Surprise breakfast
Prepare the management to arrive early, and you need to invite the CEO to fill the event as a form of expression of gratitude for the team's specific achievements. During the breakfast event, higher-ups can immediately announce what good performance they have done so far, while teammates can express their gratitude for each other. Before breakfast, give each team member the opportunity to share the reasons why they are happy to have a team and the aspects they like about their workplace.
- Charity donations
If you have employees who support a particular charity, you can support this and make charity donations. You can make a sizeable donation and request employees to support the charity. Making donations will grow the company's social responsibility profile and also elevate the company's reputation. Apart from that, employees also bond more with each other, do something that can benefit the surrounding environment and appreciate what they have.
Employee gratitude activities will ensure that each individual carries out positive activities, creating a great company culture and strengthening employee and higher-ups relations. Pointing out every good thing about employees, appreciating fellow co-workers, making the work environment comfortable are the goals of doing gratitude exercises. You will be happy that your team is more solid than before, and every employee will act for the good of the company.
If you need other information regarding business progress tips, business licensing, legality, or anything related to SME, you can visit the SMEBrother site and get what you need. SMEBrother is your SME BRO, focused on the progress of your business while supporting every step of the business you want to take.
