Researchers find gratitude creates a more civil workplace - but there is a catch
A few weeks back, researchers released a study that found that a 10 day gratitude intervention in the workplace reduced incivility, gossiping and ostracism. Intervention is a strong way to describe making a gratitude list and 10 days over 2 weeks is not a lot of time when you consider the impact it had.
Researchers had two groups of employees journal at the end of each weekday for 2 weeks. One group was asked to write about what they were grateful for at work. The other group was asked to write about the things at work that had an impact on them. At the end of the two weeks, they were asked to supply the contact information of a coworker.
Researchers then contacted the coworkers who completed a survey reporting on the employee’s uncivil behaviour. In one study, they contacted the coworkers the very next week and in a second study, they waited an additional 2 weeks before contacting the coworkers.
In both studies they found that 10 days of recording workplace gratitudes decreased mistreatment (as reported by coworkers) but not to the extent they hypothesized. They also found that the effects of the intervention were stronger (and this is the catch) for individuals who perceive higher norms for gratitude in their workplace.
My two cents
At first I was disappointed they found that workplace improvements were somewhat conditional. As a believer in grateful leadership, I want to see an ever growing and compelling body of evidence that supports the case for gratitude at work, period.
However, it makes sense that the results are conditional so the “catch” should be no surprise to you either. Let me explain. Do you agree with the statement that gratitude must be genuine? I haven’t met anyone who disagrees—yet. While being disingenuous might work in the short term, the truth will be known in the fullness of time. And when it is, it will be rendered useless—and I believe, it will backfire.
So for a workplace where gratitude is not perceived as a cultural norm nor is gratitude a default leadership behaviour, it makes total sense that the gratitude intervention didn’t immediately translate into positive outcomes—it’s just not seen as part of the culture.
Practical Implications for CEOs and Business Owners
So what can you do ? It’s quite simple actually—and it applies whether you have a grateful culture or not. Make sure you are continuously building a culture of gratefulness. A couple proven ideas to get you started or to help you continue on your journey of gratitude at work, are:
start meetings by having everyone share one thing at work they are grateful for.
as a collective, step back from your day-to-day operations—either to reflect on the good in your workplace or get gratitude training. The latter is absolutely critical for your leadership team.
encourage staff to share their gratitude with others on their team and to the team they serve (or the team who serves them)..
and of course—for you, model grateful leadership and be genuine.
References:
Locklear, L. R., Taylor, S. G., & Ambrose, M. L. (2020, September 17). How a Gratitude Intervention Influences Workplace Mistreatment: A Multiple Mediation Model. Journal of Applied Psychology.
You can find the full research paper here.
