I was complaining to my therapist (as I am wont to do) about the general lack of appreciation I have felt in the workplace. To wit: I had served seven years at a medical college and was particularly proud of the work I had done creating and maintaining an online course from scratch. The course evaluations were routinely and enthusiastically positive. The students overwhelmingly found it accessible, learned a lot, and had fun doing it! And for seven years, I was quietly re-appointed with no mention from administration of how I was doing, or even that they noticed I had done good work.
You know, merit-based raises aren’t a “thing” for adjuncts, and my income never increased a single cent, but it would have meant everything to me if someone had reached out and congratulated me on a job well done. We all can (and should!) validate ourselves, but to what extent should our employers express that our work is appreciated?
There is a whole line of psychological research focused on gratitude. As a health psychologist, I find it extremely compelling.
We can enforce an attitude of gratitude by doing simple things like keeping a “gratitude journal” wherein we regularly note things in life that we feel grateful for. Over time, this can shape the brain to default to positivity. Those life moments can be small or great – experiencing a beautiful sunset, or feeling lucky that we have a loving and supportive partner. This act might seem trite or cliché, but it has been linked to outcomes like:
What I suggest here is that gratitude should not only be a mindset, but also a behavior. Gratitude should be shared. Think of the last time you expressed sincere gratitude to another person. Or, maybe you can’t even remember, because it was a very small thing to you, a blip in your day. But to the other person, it could mean everything. How good does it feel when we invest hard work into something, and another person notices and appreciates it? That our effort is seen and validated? Isn’t that a large part of what social media is built around? Isn’t this the very least that our employers can offer in return for our labor?
We invest a lot into our jobs – our time, our effort, our blood, sweat, and tears, all non-renewable resources. It takes us away from our families, lives, and leisure. Employers, SHOW AND TELL your employees why you appreciate them. You may just earn their loyalty and respect. As my therapist says, “gratitude costs nothing, but means everything.”
