How do employees want to be shown appreciation? Results from 100,000 employees
| Pages | 197-199 |
| Date | 14 August 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-06-2017-0037 |
| Published date | 14 August 2017 |
| Author | Paul White |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
How do employees want to be shown
appreciation? Results from
100,000 employees
Paul White
Paul White is President of
Appreciation at Work, Wichita,
Kansas, USA.
Employee recognition and
communicating appreciation
to team members have been
shown to be important factors
relevant to employee engagement
and job satisfaction (Mann and
Dvorak, 2016). However, in spite of
the proliferation of employee
recognition programs, to the point
that 85 per cent of all organizations
have some recognition activities
(Daniel and Metcalf, 2005), the
levels of employee engagement
have not changed significantly in the
past several years (Adkins, 2016).
In fact, it has become increasingly
clear that many aspects of
traditional employee recognition
programs – their generic nature,
primarily rewarding years of service
or “above and beyond
performance”, and having recipients
receive accolades in front of large
groups – actually create negative
responses from many employees
(White, 2016b).
A core concept foundational to
demonstrating authentic
appreciation is that not everyone
wants to be shown appreciation in
the same ways. When appreciation
is shown in the ways most
meaningful to the recipient, many
positive results occur:
improvement in relationships with
colleagues and supervisors,
decrease in absenteeism, increase
in employee engagement rises, as
do customer satisfaction ratings
(White, 2017).
The Motivating by Appreciation
(MBA) Inventory (White, 2016a)isan
online assessment based on the
concepts from the book The 5
Languages of Appreciation in the
Workplace (Chapman and White,
2011). The five languages of
appreciation are:
1. Words of affirmation: Verbal
praise can be communicated
orally or in writing. Common
examples include a word of
thanks from a colleague for a
specific action or an email with
a compliment from one’s
supervisor.
2. Quality time: Some people feel
valued when others spend time
with them. This can be shown
either through individual time
with their supervisor or being
able to hang out with their
co-workers.
3. Acts of service: For some, they
need appreciation shown
through actions. Helping a
colleague when they are
behind on a time-sensitive
project or just working together
to complete a task are two
common examples.
Rewards
DOI 10.1108/SHR-06-2017-0037 VOL. 16 NO. 4 2017, pp. 197-199, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 STRATEGIC HR REVIEW PAGE 197
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