An Employee Attitude of Gratitude is not a Platitude

 

An Attitude of Gratitude is not a Platitude

Not everyone is comfortable equating the two words; “Employee” and “Gratitude” in one sentence. The mental and soulful debate is one of agony as employees feel that the employer is the one who should be grateful and should feel very privileged that they have, “ME” as their employee! When you look at the employment statistics of people looking for jobs vis-à-vis those who have jobs (80/20), the numbers might trip your conscience a little to think about the depth of this statement. Truth be told, I am not a good judge of your character so I leave that to you to decide whether you will carry the statement in agony or submit to its reality. However, as usual, I do have a story you might want to consider since this is the year of the African employee and we need to investigate the concept in as many depths and perspectives as we can before the end of happy new year.

A little while ago a CV (resume) appeared on my desk. And it did look promising, but not quite complete. It had all the essentials like many other CVs that float through corporate HR screens. But this one was not quite AI created. So I downloaded the CV and contacted the author requesting permission to place it on a database. The response was immediate – and- gracious, full of appreciation. That immediately caught my attention and returned to the CV for a closer look. To cut a long a long story short, the projection of that individual’s character, on paper, propelled them to the top of the application pile. Second, you may know Frank. He lives in the USA. He sent me a gift, “The Attitude of Gratitude” by Keith Harrell. I thought he would send me a laptop or something like an, “out-of-date-latest-phone” from the USA, but no. It was a simple audio on how thankfulness and an attitude of gratitude can get you through closed doors and opens doors to opportunity, offices, invitations in all sort of weird contexts. Harrell says, an attitude of gratitude has nothing to do with your circumstances or anyone else. It is all about you.

Now, I have to end this, because I am beginning to ramble. But, I want you to look around the office and among your colleagues. Who gets attention from the boss? Who gets selected for assignments in the work teams? Who is the person everyone would rather be with than the wet blanket that sits next to you each morning? Who gets selected for promotion? Who makes the most of what they get and seem to be moving happily on in life even though they are at the bottom of the corporate food chain? The grouchy or the gracious? I will bet my bottom dollar (I will keep all the other dollars) that it is the gracious.  I suggest you do what you have to do – now, today and not tomorrow. Thank you.

Allan Bukusi is the author of ; How to Prosper in Employment and writer of the series of articles under the theme; 2026: Year of the African Employee challenging employees to prioritize creating personal wealth early in their careers.