Thriving Beyond Change: Using Gratitude to Disrupt Employee Stress and Engagement

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.

~ William Arthur Ward

What are the two disruptions that unite employees? Stress and disengagement. According to the 2022 Gallop poll, 44% of employees said that they experienced a lot of stress the previous day. For the second year in a row, employee stress globally has reached record levels. The same research reported employee engagement is at 23%, and this dismal statistic is up since the pandemic. For employers, these numbers are frightening. For change management professionals, this information opens an opportunity to highlight skills to support employees thriving beyond change! 

In addition to my role as an Avaap Senior Change Consultant, I explore wellness and well-being research and practices. A most recent challenge was to develop gratitude tools and well-being information into change plans as hybrid work evolves and people experience change differently. The objective is to improve engagement and reduce workplace stress , which causes more than 120,000 deaths in Americans annually.

The feeling of gratitude involves two stages, which both should be used to elicit engagement throughout the change process. They are:

1. Acknowledging goodness in one’s life.
2. Recognizing that sources of goodness are beyond oneself.

Incorporating gratitude quotes, affirmations, wellness tools, and well-being information into change plans is welcomed since employees are not always familiar with available resources. 

In creating more human-centered strategies in your existing change work, consider these questions:

Understanding Gratitude:

• What are you grateful for as a change manager?
• What are some quotes you like for gratitude?
• What are some engagement techniques you use that focus on gratitude?

Managing Stress:

• How do you help others manage stress?
• How do you manage stress?

Preparing for Change:

• What positive message, tagline, or inexpensive gift uniting the impacted stakeholders can be shared with employees to “feel good” about the change initiative?
• What user stories can you lean into showing gratitude to employees and their past work that got the organization to where it is today?
• What business processes should be documented as the organization’s historians remember how the company, system, or procedures have changed over time?
• What positive lessons learned from past changes can be incorporated?
• What gratitude strategies should be added to your change plans based on your stakeholder assessments?

During and After Change:

• What memorable rewards, keepsakes, or activities should you employ to help impacted employees move to the change?
• What data from impacted users can be shared from user stories and early adopters?
• How can daily affirmations or quotes be shared with all the employees about the initiative?
• What resources from the organization’s Wellness Group and Employee Assisted Programs can assist employees?
• How can you recognize the positive work employees are doing?
• How are you publicly and privately sharing appreciation for employees impacted in meetings, events, and activities?
• Using metrics, how can you measure how the gratitude and stress techniques helped employees move through the change?

Leading with authentic gratefulness is the first step in successful planning. Your change management leadership, optimism, and support incorporating gratitude strategies should support engagement and help employees thrive beyond the change.

Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.

~ Voltaire

Allyson P. Sharp is a Senior Change Consultant who works with leaders and employees on strategic engagement, design, communication, and training. To delve deeper into the tactics Allyson shared or to learn more about Avaap, contact us to learn how we can assist your organization.