Spreading the feeling of gratitude

By

Instilling a thankful frame of mind among your staff makes for a gratifying work place. Consider a few suggestions for developing an atmosphere of thankfulness to get into the spirit of the holiday season.

  • Focus on gratitude. Start meetings with a thoughtful exercise. Ask staff to name one thing they’re grateful for or to share a win they have experienced recently. You’d be surprised at how smoothly a meeting runs afterwards.
  • Give credit where it’s due. Bolster leadership qualities by announcing a job well done, and offer your thanks for the initiative taken.
  • Enter the office with a smile and a kind greeting. Starting the day with silence can be off-putting and can dampen employee spirits. Exhibiting a little cheer can rally the troops from the start of the day.
  • Reward good behavior. As simple as it sounds, everyone responds to a thoughtful reward. If it’s been a demanding week and work has been completed, consider letting employees leave early, providing lunch to the team, or throwing a small party with tasty appetizers and beverages as a sign of thanks.

A few small outward displays of gratitude to your employees can go a long way. And what better time than during the holiday season?

Steven M. Ellard, CPA

Steven M. Ellard, CPA, owns Steven M. Ellard, CPA, an accounting firm on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He has more than 30 years of accounting and tax experience. His firm handles bookkeeping, payroll, tax and accounting for local businesses, with tax planning that runs all year instead of only at filing time. In 2015, Intuit named the firm one of its 20 Firms of the Future in the country.