Running a small business in the Texas Hill Country can be rewarding but is rarely easy. Owners and managers are balancing employees, customers, rising costs, marketing, staffing and, in many cases, the unpredictable demands of a tourism-driven economy. When things get busy, it is easy to focus on what needs to be fixed and overlook what is going right.

That is why gratitude can be more than simply being polite. It can be a practical leadership tool.

A recent article by Mike Robbins, The Important Benefits of Being Grateful at Work, describes how a simple gratitude exercise helped strengthen the culture of a team at Google. Each week, team members were asked to share something they were grateful for, either personally or professionally. The exercise created a positive connection among employees and eventually became a regular part of their meetings.

The lesson applies particularly well to small businesses in our community.

We all know that in a small business, relationships matter. Employees know one another, customers often become regulars, and the owner or manager has a direct influence on the culture of the workplace. A gesture of appreciation, including a simple “thank you,” from the business owner can carry considerably more weight when employees know it is sincere.

Gratitude also does something else: it changes the conversation.

Robbins cites research by Kim Cameron and colleagues at the University of Michigan showing that positive workplace practices can strengthen relationships, increase creativity, help employees recover from stress and failure, and contribute to employee loyalty. The research also found that organizations practicing positive behaviors experienced higher levels of organizational effectiveness, including financial performance, customer satisfaction and productivity.

For our business owners, putting this idea into practice is both simple and profound. 

Start with the basics.

At the next staff meeting, ask each employee to identify one thing they appreciated about the previous week. It could be a coworker who helped during a busy shift, a customer who offered a compliment, or simply something that went particularly well. Or make recognition part of the daily routine. Thank an employee specifically for something they did well. Recognize someone who stayed late to help a coworker. Tell the front-line employee who handled a difficult customer that you noticed how professionally the situation was managed.

These moments may seem small, but small businesses are built on small moments.

Our hospitality businesses understand this particularly well. Visitors come here for wine, food, shopping and beautiful scenery, and they remember the people they encounter. A welcoming employee can become part of the reason a visitor returns—and tells someone else about the experience.

The same principle applies inside the business. Employees who feel appreciated are more likely to feel connected to their workplace and to the people they work with. Gratitude is not a substitute for good wages, effective management or sound business practices. It costs virtually nothing, takes very little time and can strengthen the relationships that every successful small business depends upon.

In a community built around hospitality, perhaps one of the simplest business practices is also one of the most powerful: notice what people are doing right—and thank them for it.

In closing, I’d like to offer one word of caution. Gratitude only matters if is genuine. Don’t let this practice become simply a routine. Take time weekly if not daily to reflect on how much you truly appreciate your people. As you think of each person, you’ll naturally be reminded why they are so valuable.