For the past nine years, my wife and I have volunteered at a summer camp for children in the foster care system. This year, we were up in beautiful Ojai.  While serving at the camp with my wife, I learned two important lessons.   First — always wear sunscreen. Just because it’s 30 degrees cooler up there and overcast doesn’t mean the same fiery sun that burns in Santa Clarita isn’t putting down some hefty rays just off the Ventura Highway. Second, and a little more profound — gratitude is a glue that bonds people together.  The children who visit the summer camp every year are always so grateful for the effort we put in to make it a wonderful experience for each of them. These are children between the ages of 7 and 11 who have been let down by the adults who should have loved them the most.   We are all volunteers who serve as camp counselors, and I can see the gratitude in the shining eyes of the children and foster parents.  Likewise, I’ve noticed how the volunteers are grateful for each other — it’s the common cause that draws us to serve, primarily for the children and, secondarily, for each other. If gratitude were a food group, we were certainly well-nourished this past Saturday.  Relating this concept to the real world of work, I’ve noticed that there appear to be three types of people when we peer through the workplace window. Let’s take a look inside.  The Great Ungrateful: Have you ever worked alongside the Great Ungrateful? Have you ever had to supervise them? Ever been served by them as a customer? What did that look like, feel like, sound like? I’ve noticed that the Great Ungrateful always seem to have a chip on their shoulder — they always seem to think someone has it in for them or that they’re being treated unfairly. You always get the sense they think someone is taking advantage of them.  The Great Ungrateful are the folks who believe their labor is worth much more than what they’re being paid for, so they often just do the bare minimum to get by at work. They put in minimal effort yet expect maximum rewards from their employer. The Great Ungrateful always suspect they’re being exploited and stew in constant suspicion that someone, somewhere has it better.  The Fickle Responders: These are employees who respond well when they’re treated well by others. The problem with the Fickle Responders is that their response can change if they’re not treated well. They’re very reactionary — one day they’re fired up because of positive external stimuli, and the next day they’re caustic, cynical and callous because the wind changed direction.  You can identify a Fickle Responder by the language they use. They’ll speak favorably about one leader, praising them as better than their previous one. They’ll bad-mouth a colleague for not being as effective as someone they worked with before. Fickle Responders have favorites and display micro-inequities. One day, you might be on their “nice list,” and the next, on their “naughty list,” leaving you wondering what changed.  The Eternally Grateful: Sadly, the Eternally Grateful are a small part of the working population. Interestingly, in the 2023 Gallup poll, the word “grateful” was selected by less than 8% of the surveyed population when asked to describe their response to their employer and the organization kind enough to put money into their bank accounts every two weeks in the form of a paycheck.  The Eternally Grateful are the people you love to encounter as a customer — they exhibit genuine enthusiasm and dedication to their work every day. They make excellent colleagues because they always go the extra mile, understanding how their partnership with internal customers directly impacts external customers.  So, let’s all recommit to two important and timeless principles: first, be grateful, and second, wear sunscreen.  Paul Butler is a Santa Clarita resident and a client partner with Newleaf Training and Development of Valencia (newleaftd.com). For questions or comments, email Butler at [email protected].  The post Paul Butler | Gratitude at Work  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.