Gratitude and Employee Engagement:

It’s been quite a year. And many organizations (from their CEOs down to their employees) are feeling the strain of 2025. Top concerns, across the country and industries, include:

~I&D Policy Changes (Inclusion & Diversity) ~AI-Driven Workforce Displacement ~Job Insecurity ~Changes in benefits, particularly health insurance. ~Economic Uncertainty

This holiday season might be difficult for many people who work for you. Some might be struggling with the loss of work from their partner or a close family member. Hospitals and health systems have stopped Telehealth for Medicare. Holiday stress includes financial strain, finding the time to juggle work obligations and family obligations, and increased workloads (meeting end-of-the-year deadlines, budget plans, and more).

We could tack on more. The bottom line, though, is that people are feeling the strain of a year that felt, for lack of a better expression, completely out of control. As organizational leaders, there is one key thing in your control – gratitude.

What is gratitude?

The Science of Gratitude

• Impacts relationships, resilience, mental, and physical health.
• Changes the brain physiologically to create feelings of happiness.
• Is correlated with brain activity associated with moral cognition.
• Regulates our sympathetic nervous system, which activates our anxiety responses.
• Changes neural structures in the brain and, in turn, improves our mood, making us feel happier.
• Is correlated with being more resilient in times of stress.




How to Cultivate Gratitude and Improve Employee Engagement:


Giving thanks makes you a better leader, and it makes your workplace a better place to be. Make gratitude a leadership priority. Here’s how:

1. Write a thank-you note. Yes. Go old-school. Take the time to write meaningful thank-you notes to your team for their work. The former CEO of Campbell Soup, Douglas Conant, wrote over 30,000 thank you notes during his time at the company. When was the last time you received an actual letter? Exactly! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

2. Hygge at Work & Team Meetings: Hygge is a Danish word, and the closest translation for it is cozy. Cozy is that feeling of warmth, that feeling that things are right. Okay, before groaning, consider the fact that we can learn gratitude. And at a time where we're bombarded with rage everywhere, maybe we need a little hygge (without being corny). Before team meetings, take a moment to reflect on gratitude:
• Think of someone at the officewho has done something really kind for you.
• What made you smile today (anything big or small)?
• Who do you appreciate today?

3. Recognize that things can be hard: Life is messy, and work and life can be difficult. Gratitude isn’t turning a blind eye to this. Taking the time to recognize that people might not be in the place they want to be, and work can be a slog at times, is human. Not everything is silver-lined. Just don’t fall down the rabbithole of negativity. State what’s hard. Acknowledge it. And teach your team about what’s in their control and how they can refocus.

4. Make Gratitude Human-Centered: You’ve heard us say, time and again, that you should focus on the behavior, not the person. With gratitude, you can focus on the person and how that person can make a place better – with their attitude, work ethic, kindness, commitment, efforts, and more. Take a moment of appreciation for your team members’ social worth.

5. Be flexible. This time of year comes with more traffic, more congestion, sometimes difficult driving conditions, and always longer lines. Doing “normal” everyday things takes time. Offer your employees (when possible) flexible start and leave times and even hybrid work arrangements. Give them the time they need for life, whether it be going to a holiday concert at their child’s school, picking up a relative at the airport, or attending a family meal. Flexible work arrangements are a way to show gratitude, recognizing the diverse needs and lives of your employees.

6. Listen to your Employees: Listening is an act of gratitude. When you listen to your staff, your peers, your contractors and team leaders, you are showing the people around you that their ideas, concerns, and voice matter. Cultivating a culture of gratitude goes hand-in-hand with one of active listening. Start with an employee engagement survey, and address the concerns of your workforce. Great leaders tend to be great listeners.

Conduct an Employee Engagement Survey


"Being thankful is not always experienced as a natural state of existence, we must work at it, akin to a type of strength training for the heart.” —Larissa Gomez
We often believe that gratitude comes naturally. It can be taught through active practice and consistent modeling. It can be one of your company values, as cultivating a culture of gratitude will improve the lives of the people who work in your organization.