By Leslie Boomer

Studies on satisfaction in the workplace go back decades and come back right up to the Gallup State of the American Workplace completed this year. The results of such research haven't  changed much over time but the numbers on engagement and satisfaction in the U.S. remain troublesome. There are unlimited surveys you can use to measure engagement and satisfaction but the million dollar question remains, why aren’t we more successful in creating a workplace culture that inspires and satisfies employees? 

Want to have this blog in podcast form?  Check it out here.

Part of the answer may be that it takes time, investment in your people, and an ongoing focus that prioritizes people over profits. Many companies feel they can’t spend the time or the money. Plus, there are such numerous strategies for creating a culture that breeds loyalty and satisfaction, that just selecting one can be overwhelming. So for today, let’s keep it simple and talk about just one way to work on satisfaction that’s easy to understand: expressing appreciation. I want to do that because when it comes to making workers happy,  it’s not always about the money; sometimes it is as simple as an employee feeling like he’s known for doing a good job.

I bet we can agree that it feels great when you’ve put extra effort into a project–or even the completion of a simple job–and someone finds a way to let you know that they noticed what you’ve done. Appreciation can be simple, and it can cost you very little to find a way to give a coworker encouragement. Yet, research shows that employees are much more likely to report that when they make a mistake, they hear about it loud and clear; but when they get a job done well and on time, the silence is deafening. The good news is there's a way you can change that– even on a tight budget–by using the techniques explained in a book called The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman and Paul White. Once you’ve gained an understanding of this approach you can use The Motivation By Appreciation (MBA) assessment to identify the individual languages of your team. 

Let me give you some context on The 5 Languages. For over 30 years the 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman has been helping people create and maintain better relationships. Maintaining positive relationships at work are key in creating satisfaction in the workplace. Stable, trusted relationships enable more direct communication and can create an environment in which trust and resilience can be built. That way, your organization can focus on the work at hand instead of replacing and training new employees who leave because they don’t have the strong relationships that would cause them to stay. 

Research shows that human beings have 5 basic languages of love and of appreciation. Like any language, if someone is speaking to you in a language that’s foreign to you, you won’t understand what's being said. The same is true with appreciation. Not everyone speaks the same language, or if they do, there may be a different dialect. 

An example:  If you’re trying to show appreciation to an employee by giving them a gift card for a cup of coffee when what really motivates them is hearing specifically what they’ve done well, the effort may fall short of making the worker feel truly appreciated. They’ll enjoy the coffee but they may not know exactly why they got it or how to repeat what they did right. Or let’s say you pull someone up to the front of a meeting to give them praise on getting a job done on time and on budget. They should be happy with the recognition right? But this employee hates the limelight and instead of feeling appreciated they just feel awkward. But if you would take them out for a coffee or a quick lunch, that would have made them feel like a rock star because you took the time to be with them. 

People hear appreciation in unique ways. Leaders who will take the time to learn what speaks the most clearly to each employee will show their team appreciation, and so much more. Research shows year after year that workers who feel seen for who they are and what they do, invest in the job they have instead of looking for another. 

I hope you’ll want to find out more about how you can learn to show appreciation for the individuals on your team—appreciation that’s spoken in the “language” they need to hear it in most. 

You can start with the book: The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace by Gary Chapman and Paul White. It’s a great overview of the program and how to begin. 

You can also  access the MBA Inventory here - this is where you can have your team take the assessment and determine how they receive appreciation. 

Finally, before you make any investment here are FREE resources in PDF and video - check it all out and start learning how to show your team appreciation in ways that can make all the difference in the resilience and satisfaction in your organizational culture.