Building a Better Workplace Starts with Saying 'Thanks'

The bottom line

Structured gratitude practices measurably reduced workplace mistreatment on teams where they were introduced — a rare intervention that improves how colleagues treat each other, not just how individuals feel. For leaders, peer-recognition rituals are a cheap complement to fairness and staffing fixes. As practitioner-press research with unreported methodology, it merits piloting, not policy built on it alone.

What the source found

Harvard Business Review study finding that structured gratitude practices — encouraging colleagues to express thanks and reflect on gratitude — measurably decreased workplace mistreatment on teams where introduced.

Limitations and applicability

HBR practitioner article; not a peer-reviewed primary research paper; methodology not fully reported; general industry context.

Population and setting

Workplace teams (general industry)

Used in FairShare guides

• What the Evidence Says About Gratitude and Retention

About this evidence

Research question / practical issue

How does this source inform Evidence-Based Wellness and Leadership, Culture, and Fairness for the population it studied?

Study design, evidence tier, and source class

Practitioner Journal Article · context source · evidence tier 3

Source type: Practitioner Journal Article · context · Evidence tier 3

Topics: Evidence-Based Wellness, Leadership, Culture, and Fairness

Audience: Department Leaders, Wellness Leaders