Some people think that for an employee to be successful in the corporate world, they need to be ruthless and highly driven.

But in fact one of the most important characteristics of a great employee is virtuousness – a quality often ignored by companies.

Virtues like gratitude, honesty, love and forgiveness have many benefits for both employees and organizations.

For individuals, the main benefit of virtuousness lies in its inherent worth: people feel good about themselves when they do something virtuous, like helping someone else. This makes them happier, more committed and more productive, all of which benefits the company in turn.

So how can virtuousness at work be increased? One of the easiest virtues to encourage is gratitude. Studies have shown it brings substantial benefits like improved physical health, social relationships and cognitive performance.

Gratitude can be fostered by, for example, asking employees to keep a gratitude journal, where they note down everything for which they are grateful, both at work and at home.

Another virtue to be fostered is transcendence, which refers to a sense of profound purpose. It can be encouraged by setting goals that contribute to society.

This is what Apple did in the 1980s by defining its goal as “One person, one computer.” It wanted every person on the planet to be able to experience the joy and efficacy that comes from owning a computer, and this motivated employees to strive for this goal.