Gear Up for End of Year Gratitude
By Mary T. O’Sullivan, MSOL
“The ‘post-Thanksgiving slump’ is real. While the majority of employees feel a greater sense of camaraderie in the workplace at this time of year, burnout is an equally likely byproduct.” – Tony Case
Your guests have all gone home, the turkey carcass has transformed into soup, and the house returned to some form of order. Thanksgiving is over, and Christmas is less than a month away. What are the next three weeks going to look like for you at work? Will your days float by, daydreaming of sugar plum fairies? Or will you dread the next few weeks of keeping your usual hectic work schedule, at the same time you’re shopping, wrapping, decorating, and cooking and baking? Few of us enjoy the reverie of the former, while many try to keep pace with work and holiday planning, determined not to fail at any task. The daydreamers may have it right. Their thoughts carry them away from unhealthy stress levels that the rest of us careen toward at this time of year.
If you find yourself balancing critical year end reports with creating a magical holiday experience, it may be time to reassess your priorities. Perfectionism and Workism have no place when life gets hectic anticipating these annual festivities. Burnout can ruin any fun you’ve planned, and stress and fatigue can make you dread work at the same time.
It may sound simplistic, but you can avoid that slump by merely changing your perspective. According to Worklife, “expressing … gratitude publicly has the power to energize … and even relieve stress.” Studies show the brain reacts positively, with chemical change, when gratitude is expressed. Gratitude boosts the brain’s serotonin and dopamine production, those “feel good” chemicals, that create a “runner’s high”, those feelings of joy, delight and stresslessness. Why not integrate gratitude into your workday?
The post pandemic changes to the workforce, with more people working remotely or on a hybrid schedule, caused disconnection among team members creating fewer opportunities to relate and communicate as a team. This new way of working disrupted personal exchanges and made casual conversations almost impossible. Leaders are faced with an interesting challenge at this time of year. They need to bring people together, and yet keep them motivated to wrap up the fourth quarter. How can leaders demonstrate genuine gratitude to their teams? In the spirit of the holidays, some research suggests that in person gatherings, where people are recognized for their contributions during the year, help to fight off the post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas slump. Research has also shown that having lunch together, as a group, increases overall energy and makes people more enthusiastic about work in general.
And to encourage continual contact among team members, Worklife notes that when leaders send encouraging texts and messages to employees, spirits rise. Whatever the event, people need to feel like they belong and area an important part of the organization. Appreciation and gratitude are two ways to build confidence within and acknowledge your team. What better time to congratulate people than in between two major hectic holidays?
Show your colleagues some love, then bring those boxes down from the attic, get your shopping and cooking underway for the next foray, and enjoy those weeks between now and the end of the year. Thank your team for their continued support and send your boss a holiday card. You’ll find a little gratitude goes a long way.
“Leaders have to prioritize keeping employee engagement healthy through the home stretch of the year…” Tom Libretto, Workhuman CMO
Connect with Mary:
www.encoreexecutivecoaching.com
