A Thank You Costs Nothing...
This month we’re focusing on gratitude. Both as a method in our toolkit for keeping mentally healthy in our personal lives but also in the workplace. While we’ve covered “Is the customer always right?” and why we think in some cases a successful hospitality business needs to move away from this mentality, there is a way to include gratitude in our daily service to ourselves, colleagues and customers.
The first rule in hospitality is to keep the customers happy, right? But sometimes this can feel like treading water. We’ve been there. Every table is full, you’re in the throng of keeping service on track, and the next group of people with reservations have arrived. You’re the new chef in the kitchen, the head chef is waiting for your contribution and you’re the last to deliver to the pass. You’re trying to do rotas; your morning delivery has just arrived, and someone has asked whether they can pull you aside for an important chat. You get the picture – at some point someone has to wait.
In these high-pressure situations, it’s easy to throw out a “sorry” when you finally get to whoever has been on standby BUT we think there might be an alternative. “Thank you for your patience” can go a long way and can turn a negative into a positive. While we don’t believe toxic positivity is good for anyone, a thank you might be able to change the trajectory of your shift, particularly as it has the potential to diffuse the other party’s annoyance – sure, we get it. No-one likes to wait! But this way we can show the appreciation that someone else’s time is valuable to them.
Greater than just being a flippant comment, “thank you” over “sorry” is psychologically more important than you might think. When we express thanks, we boost a neurotransmitter called serotonin which activates the brain into producing dopamine, the happy hormone (hooray!). Not only does it boost positive social interactions, but it is ACTUALLY good for us. Of course, apologies are important when they are truly necessary. Note the word truly. [Over apologisers this is for you. STOP saying sorry for existing. You are part of the team, and you are worthy.]
Not only this but you might have noticed on our social media that as part of our gratitude month, we’re giving thanks publicly to individuals in our team and it’s easy to integrate this within the workforce. Each member of the team brings something different, and science has shown that autonomy plays a big role in job satisfaction, motivation and creativity. Identifying your employees and colleagues is easy to do and important for staff morale… so if you’re not doing it already, then why not?
We’ve got “thank you for waiting” and giving thanks for our teammates in the toolbox for the workplace but what about for ourselves? There has been a lot in the media about how toxic positivity can be detrimental to our mental health, particularly as it leads us to dismiss negative emotions (which are just as valid as positive ones) and acts as a barrier to empathising with others. But what we’re talking about isn’t to ignore all negatives in the hope of making ourselves feel better. Gratitude in our daily lives can simply help us be amongst the bad days. We have the possibility of being knackered and irritable but being grateful for a bus service that’s on time or rejoicing in a meme from our mate. It is in the collection of small glimmers of delight on a gloomy day that can help forge an inward permission to be kinder to ourselves. So, if you can, highlight three things for yourself that you’re grateful for each day.
Catch part two of our soiree into gratitude later this month! In the meantime, if you enjoyed this? Tell us! Hell.. maybe even say thank you (!?) or share it with a friend.
