The term gratefulness refers to be warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received by another person. A simple word that too often gets missed in our daily lives. We all believe ourselves that we give thanks and are grateful for many things but do we truly appreciate and recognise the work of others?

It wasn’t until recently my eight year old son came home from school with his homework; which was to write down and explain three things that he is grateful for and why. This made me think of my own situation and what I am grateful for; family, health, friends etc. What about in the workplace and professional setting? Do we appreciate? Do we thank others? Are we truly grateful?

If we were to ask any ‘Baby Boomer’ or even my generation would say they are grateful to have a job and be employed. They are also more likely to be grateful for getting experience and getting paid. But like mentioned this is more likely to be the attitude of ‘Baby Boomers’. Other generations attitudes have shifted; no longer are we grateful to have a job, more and more people seem to have the attitude of “the company should be grateful that I’m working for them!!” No longer are we grateful for just being employed we now are more and more often expressing the notion of “what’s in it for me?” This massive shift has occurred through a continual change in attitudes and expectations. Employers expectations have remained similar but attitudes have shifted as a result of their employees. Employers, if they aren’t already, need to be appreciative of their staff. They understand that it’s a candidate short market and talent is hard attract and retain. Indirectly this is shown through additional employee benefits, bonuses and flexible working arrangements.

Each workplace needs to foster an environment of respect, cooperation and gratefulness. Team work is essential to most environments and we need to be grateful for the support and efforts of others. If this doesn’t exist things need to change!