9 Proven Ways to Create a Culture of Gratitude in the Workplace

What do you want from your employees–more work? Better work? For more of them to go the extra mile?

Maybe you understand that a lot of that hinges on their happiness. So you strategize ways to boost job satisfaction scores and overall well-being.

Decades of research reveal the key to obtaining all of this: gratitude. Gratitude in the workplace is associated with high productivity, engagement, and reduced stress. It also encourages that elite set of qualities known as organizational citizenship behaviors.

Keep reading for the latest on creating a culture of gratitude. We’ll share the larger strategies as well as tactics to make recognition stick.

How to create a culture of gratitude at work

If you ask anyone at a company how to show gratitude at work, the first thing they’ll come up with is something like, “Saying thank you more often.”

That’s great! The small stuff matters, and we’ll have plenty more of that to share down the line. But it requires a set of strong foundation principles, or ground rules.

Weave it into everyday operations.

Employees need gestures and expressions of gratitude at frequent intervals, not just at performance reviews. Timeliness and consistency are what make gratitude part of a culture. It takes effort initially, gradually taking on a beautiful life of its own.

Leaders model the behavior

Lack of leadership buy-in is a bucket of water on any smoking-hot strategy you hope to get going. As you integrate the practices shared here today, ensure their participation. It doesn’t totally fall on their shoulders, but feeling valued by leadership makes employees feel more loyal to the company.

Build rituals as a community

Co-creating rituals helps build cohesive teams where gratitude is easier to feel and express. You can even ritualize gratitude itself by setting aside time each week to share what everyone is grateful for. HeyTaco makes this so fun and informal that employees can’t help but engage. Companies that use our platform give thanks by showering one another with tacos in the team chat.

Encourage peer-to-peer appreciation

The taco shower above is an example of peer-to-peer gratitude. After all, what kind of culture is strictly top-down? People aren’t enjoying a culture of appreciation or gratitude if it’s not being exchanged with the people sitting on either side of them.

Expressing gratitude in the workplace: Small actions with big impact

Learning how to express gratitude at work requires more intention than it does outside. We have to inspire and guide employees to build rapport with people they may not know very well. Here’s how to show gratitude at work so that others catch on.

1. Shout it out.

One of the classic, most effective examples of gratitude in the workplace is the shout-out. Verbal or written, in private or at a meeting. Directly stating that you’re grateful for something is a sure bet, provided that you’re specific.

The recipient needs to know what they did and why you’re grateful. “Thanks for showing me that shortcut, you saved me two hours and spared me four gray hairs,” is more gratifying than “Oh! Thank you.”

Team leads, managers, and the like usually have fewer chances to express gratitude. Including shout-outs during meetings is the best way to ensure their participation and consistency.

Shout-outs are how we make gratitude go viral at work, so morale is always higher. HeyTaco’s brand of virtual gratitude is designed for this. Even the shiest employees won’t shrink away from a gesture of gratitude in a team chat. The same goes for remote and strictly siloed workers.

Attorney Michael Stevens says it’s benefited his law firm since they’ve gone hybrid/remote. “Before we lived on Microsoft Teams, you’d have to physically be in the right place at the right time to witness random acts of gratitude.”

2. Make a gratitude wall at work.

Creating a dedicated area to gratitude is a popular practice among those most committed to the culture. If you already have an employee wall at work, reserve a portion of the existing space for gratitude.

A gratitude wall at work can be physical or digital. Our very own TacoTV broadcasts grateful goings-on.

You can also create a new Slack or Teams channel just for gratitude, as Michael’s law firm did. “With our gratitude channel on Teams, you can pipe in good vibes to your day anytime. The channel has the opposite effect of doom scrolling.”

If you’re keeping it IRL, you can implement a gratitude tree ASAP. Tack a large picture of a bare tree, trunk and branches alone, on the wall.

Over a week or a month, employees can write what they’re grateful for on sticky notes and fix them on the tree as leaves. Change it up season by season with sticky notes that look like fall leaves, spring flowers, or fruits.

3. Introduce a gratitude challenge at work.

When we’re discussing these topics, “the workplace” can feel like a homogenous location. But we all recognize that industry, workflows, environments, and other key demographics make every company pretty unique.

It’s just a fact–some employees will think gratitude initiatives are a waste of time. If stoking the spirit of giving is slow going at your company, throw them a challenge.

To create a gratitude challenge at work, first decide how long it’ll be. If the company is chock-full of curmudgeons, start them at five days. Every day, in the team chat, during meetings or any other designated time, give them a prompt to spark a little gratitude. Some to start:

• Who in a different department would you send gratitude to?
• What is the one thing about your role that you’re most grateful for?
• Which company values are you most grateful for?

HeyTaco also has features for the gratitude-resistant: leaderboards. We’ve gamified recognition so that anyone can take up the challenge. People who give and receive tacos can climb levels and unlock rewards.

But chances are, you won’t need to bribe them into a culture of gratitude. Laura, Director of People Operations at a software company, initially faced skepticism. “Once the naysayers got a taco, they couldn’t help themselves. It feels good to be recognized!”

Catherine, a manager at an e-commerce agency, didn’t even realize how important HeyTaco’s leaderboards had become to her crew until she forgot to send the score out one week. “People were messaging me, asking if the tacos were still a thing! They were worried I had taken it away.”

The main takeaway is that deep down or loud and proud, everyone likes gratitude. They simply need more ways and chances to express it, so they find one that clicks with them.

4. Gratitude quotes that actually work at work.

A culture of gratitude is a collection of little things, small gestures and tiny habits coming together to form a supportive environment.

Add even more detail to recognition by tacking a quote onto your tacos. Bonus points if your message has a hashtag-able word that reflects the company’s core values. You can also add one to your email signature for everyday reminders to recipients that gratitude underlines everything you do.

Here are some gratitude quotes for work to try:

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

–William Arthur Ward

“Silent gratitude isn’t very much to anyone.”

–Gertrude Stein

“Because none of us is as smart as all of us.”

–Ken Blanchard

“You’re so annoying! All you do is help, help, help. Aren’t you tired of being dependable?”

–Unknown

“This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.”

–Maya Angelou

“What if, today, we were grateful for everything?”

–Charlie Brown

“I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I sure can pick smart colleagues.”

–Franklin D. Roosevelt

5. Use tools that make gratitude easy.

Putting in extra effort to be grateful is wonderful and sometimes necessary. But when it’s near-effortless, we see and experience more of it. To make gratitude–and recognition in general–a habit and not a chore, employees need tools to help them do so without interrupting their work.

HeyTaco is far from the only tool you can choose, but it’s the one we’re most familiar with.🤩It integrates seamlessly into Teams and Slack chats, so employees can share virtual tacos any time they witness or benefit from a positive behavior.

Why does a 🌮work so well? It’s not just that it’s easy to do. As we explain in our guide to a thriving Taco Economy:

• It’s fun. Food is something we all enjoy together. Emojis are a modern, informal method of communication that we already engage in.
• It feels good. Giving or receiving recognition gives us a little lift that’s great for engagement and workplace positivity.
• It’s genuine. You don’t have unlimited tacos. If you only have five tacos, you’re going to reserve them for the most deserving occasions. When you give a taco, you mean it!

Gratitude at work isn’t a perk. It’s a daily practice.

You don’t offer gratitude in the workplace like you would commuter benefits or catered lunches. It’s not a reward. Rather, gratitude is a key ingredient in creating an environment where everyone feels like their work has value.

Gratitude is a positive emotion that comes naturally to everyone. We just have to make way for more of it. Start small with tiny tacos, free for 30 days.

Creating a culture of gratitude at work: FAQ

How do you start a culture of gratitude with cynical employees?

Disarm cynics and skeptics and secure their participation with three qualities: easy, optional, and small. HeyTaco specializes in this, but you can apply it to many methods. It also helps to avoid over-mentioning words like “gratitude” and “appreciation” and just stick to “shout-outs.”

How do you keep workplace gratitude from feeling forced or transactional?

Being specific in all expressions of thanks adds sincerity and is more believable. Focus on genuine, honest messages instead of plain “thanks” or even gift card rewards.

How long does it take to build a culture of gratitude?

Seeing small improvements can take as little as a week. For measurable results, wait about two months. If participation drops after this point, leadership probably isn’t modeling or championing it. Or, you may need new rituals or tools.

What if employees on global teams resist a culture of gratitude?

Employees in other countries may be accustomed to a culture where frequent, open expressions of gratitude are strange or awkward. Thanking them in an email or private message may be more appropriate at times.

However, HeyTaco is equipped to handle this. It’s a silly little 🌮, not a gooey, overwrought sonnet about how wonderful they are. Add in a hashtag tying it to the core values they’re exemplifying, and it’s just right.

• Specific enough to be sincere
• Lighthearted enough to avoid getting too touchy-feely
• Low-pressure enough for them to reciprocate