Expressing Appreciation in Ways that Employees Appreciate

I remember the day my husband came home from work ecstatically happy because his boss of seven years told him “Good job!” for the first time – ever. I was happy that he received recognition in front of his co-workers. At the same time, I realized that seven years is too long to go without recognition or thanks for a job well done. My husband’s experience is all too common in the workplace, where 70% of workers report they receive no praise or appreciation1.

Thanksgiving, which is a major U.S. holiday in November, is a time to practice gratitude. Although it is mainly a family holiday, Thanksgiving is the perfect time to express appreciation to your team at work. Did you realize that each of your co-workers have particular preferences for how to give and receive gratitude? We each have a preferred language of appreciation, according to Gary Chapman and Paul White, authors of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.

Appreciation, or expressing gratitude, to employees and co-workers is vital to growing a vibrant company culture. Who doesn’t want to be thanked for doing a good job? Surprisingly, each individual on your team desires to be thanked in a preferred way or “language” of receiving appreciation. Using a non-preferred method of appreciation will not be impactful, and you’ll wonder why. Just like people have different personality types, so do they have appreciation preferences.

What are the different languages of appreciation?

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