What is it about us humans that makes us so drawn to the negative?
Every mistake we make seems to stick in our brains like Velcro, while
our successes slide out like they’re on Teflon.
For decades, psychologists have studied the effect of the negative
in our lives—trauma, addiction, stress, and so on. But there’s a
relatively new school of study called Positive Psychology. Martin
Seligman, PhD, brought it to light in 1998 when he was president of the
American Psychological Association, but it originated with Maslow in his
1954 book Motivation and Personality. Today at Harvard,
Positive Psychology 1504 is the school’s most popular class, and Penn
offers an entire master’s degree on the subject.
It’s no wonder positivity is gaining in popularity: We humans can
actually become healthier and happier if we teach ourselves to focus
more on positive emotions such as forgiveness, compassion, altruism, and
gratitude. Dr. Robert Emmons at UC Berkeley has found that people who
are more grateful are happier, more outgoing, less lonely, and even have
stronger immune systems and lower blood pressure.
We’ve now surveyed more than 850,000 people for our books, and we
have found that managers who express sincere and frequent gratitude for
their employees’ achievements have on average significantly lower
employee turnover, higher customer satisfaction, and higher worker
engagement levels.
In 2017, may we suggest a laser-like focus on the concept of
gratitude as a key to a happier and more successful life. Below we offer
4 simple ways to get started in your team:
1. Do It Now. Gratitude doesn’t age well. The
closer recognition and appreciation follows a desired behavior, the more
strongly that action is reinforced. If you want to inspire your team
and show real appreciation, you will find the time. It doesn’t take
long. The best managers we’ve studied spent on average about an hour a
week recognizing their people, but the results were higher employee
engagement, trust, and energy levels.
After all, how much time do you
need to pen a handwritten thank-you note, let the world know of
someone’s accomplishment on their social media site, or say “thank you”
in a specific way in team meeting?
2. Do It Often. Gratitude should be habitual to
build a positive culture. In the best workplaces, people feel praised
every seven days, according to research from the Gallup Organization.
Gratitude never gets old if it is aligned with the core values of the
organization or your team. Does anyone ever tire of their manager saying
you matter and you add value?
3. Be Specific. Everyone in a team must clearly
understand what behavior triggered your gratitude in order to repeat it.
For the best impact, clearly link each recognition event to one of your
core values that you wish to see repeated. Non-specific praise is
actually disheartening for an employee, since it implies that their
manager has no idea of the unique value they bring to the team.
Many
managers who offer this type of general gratitude may think they are
rewarding the entire team with comments such as, “Thanks, everyone, for
all your hard work,” or “You all make me proud.” But such general
gratitude has no effect, and has even been shown to have a negative
impact on those in your charge.
4. Be Sincere. Reward only those behaviors you
truly value, with your heartfelt and public gratitude. This is all too
rare and can be extraordinarily meaningful. So gather people together.
Your gratitude should be expressed publicly, your criticism in private.
The team in attendance will learn as much or even more than the person
being thanked.
While the research shows gratitude can help any business or team,
our respective families are also trying an experiment to more grateful
in our lives overall in 2017. We each have family apps where we post
daily the things for which we are grateful for. These can be simple
things like a good meal, an interesting conversation, or a tender mercy
in nature such as a beautiful sunset.
Can 2017 be a year of gratitude in your team and your family? We
would love to hear your stories of gratitude, and perhaps your plans.
Source
Chester & Adrian
Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick are the New York Times bestselling authors of The Carrot Principle, All In and What Motivates Me. They are also co-founders of The Culture Works, an innovator in employee engagement and leadership training solutions.
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