July 2024
APPRECIATION
"Don’t forget a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated." — H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Prompt:
Appreciation makes people feel valued and drives them to do their best. It has also been proven to improve overall wellbeing and mental health. Yet many organizations miss the mark when it comes to appreciation. According to the Glassdoor Employee Appreciation Survey, over half of employees revealed that they would stay longer at their organization if they felt more appreciation from their boss and co-workers. And according to another study, 29% of employees have received no recognition within the past year.
Not everyone likes to be appreciated in the same way. Some people love to be recognized in front of others, while some prefer appreciation to be shown in a 1-1 setting. Some people love to receive physical gifts, while some prefer to spend quality time with others. It’s important to remember that we may appreciate people on our team, but they may not feel appreciated by us. Hopefully this discussion will shine a light on how each individual wants to be appreciated, provide a pathway for people to feel more appreciated, and enhance comradery among your team.
Activity:
This month, we have purchased a code for you to take the "Motivating By Appreciation" inventory. If you are familiar with the 5 Love Languages, then this will look familiar. The 5 Languages of Appreciation In The Workplace is a book written by the same author (Gary Chapman), in which he applies the languages to the work setting.
*From the page it brings you to, there is red box that says "Take the Inventory", drop down that menu and select "I have a code," it will prompt you to select a language, then you will enter your code and create an account to take the inventory.
The discussion this month does not require your whole team to take the assessment. However, if you would like to augment the discussion, and have your team take this assessment as well, additional codes are $15/ea.
Discussion:
We encourage you to engage in a discussion with your team this month about appreciation. What does appreciation look like at your company? Do you have formal systems in place to recognize one another? How do you show appreciation for one another? Talk about the four languages of appreciation at work (words, quality time, acts of service, gifts). Feel free to reference this summary that we created for the languages and ask which language resonates with each person on your team.
If you do have your team take the MBA Inventory, have everyone share their primary language and what resonates about that with them. If not, simply use the questions below to guide the discussion.
Discussion Questions:
Share a time when you truly felt appreciated by someone else. What specifically did they do?
Share a time when you did not feel appreciation by someone. Why did you feel that way?
How do you like to show appreciation for others?
What is the best way for others to show appreciation for you?