Recently I was able to attend the Rare Leadership conference that helped me learn more about teamwork in an unexpected way.
One of the speakers was Dr. Paul White. He is the co-author of the book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People. He co-authored it with Gary Chapman, author of the 5 Love Languages - the Secret to Love that Lasts and all the other variations.
He talked about recognition and true appreciation are not the same. There can be a little bit of overlap but for the most part, recognition is more about performance rather than showing real appreciation.
65% of employees have reported that they received NO recognition or appreciation in the last year. How could that be? Most companies have some type of recognition program. He said that he believed that the companies do the process but the employees don’t receive it.
Only 17% of employees believe that their employers do a good job of recognizing them.
Appreciation is personal. It’s not just about getting things done. It’s about recognizing that we are people and have lives outside of work. Doing the same thing for everyone is not personal.
I have an example of this. One of my vendors likes to show appreciation to her clients. She was sending out gifts of appreciation a few times a year. One of the gifts she gave me including candy and cookies. Which for some, that would be perfect. I was able to kindly tell her that was not really a good “gift” for me.
The next time she sent me a gift, she send me a box of tea. That was a perfect gift for me.
The act of sending something to show appreciation must be done in a thoughtful way or it likely won’t be received in the way the sender intended.
Gifts aren’t the only way to show appreciation. There are 5 types of appreciation in the workplace:
- Tangible Gifts
- Quality Time
- Words of Affirmation
- Physical Touch (appropriate)
- Acts of Service
Many people receive appreciation as words of affirmation, but not all so being aware of all 5 and how to use them appropriately is important. You can have your team take a simple quiz to learn what their appreciation language is.
Understanding the appreciation language of those on your team will help you do a better job of sharing appreciation with them in a way that they can actually receive.
Coach Dale
Playlists — music can change your mood, enjoy some of the songs that encourage me.
The Identity Key — you can purchase my book on Amazon.