The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People

Anyone can make a difference in their workplace, regardless of their position—

“To excel as a manager, to turn your people’s talents into productive powerful strengths, requires an additional, all-important ingredient. Lacking this ingredient … you will never reach excellence. The all-important ingredient is Individualization.”3

It is well documented that global praise does very little to encourage the recipient, and doesn’t increase the positive behaviors desired. Many people have reported to us that global comments actually can be demotivating. “I hate it when my boss says, ‘Good job, guys!’ He could say that to anyone. And to be honest, since my job is so technical, som

But the number one factor in job satisfaction is not the amount of pay we receive but whether or not we feel appreciated and valued for the work we do.

Effective verbal praise is specific. The more you can “catch” a staff person doing a task in the way you want and call attention to that specific task or behavior, the more likely that behavior is going to occur again.

Recognition is largely about behavior. “Catch them doing what you want and recognize it,” the books say. Appreciation, conversely, focuses not only on performance but also affirms the employee’s value as a person.

When leaders actively pursue teaching their team members how to communicate authentic appreciation in the ways desired by the recipients, the whole work culture improves. Interestingly, even managers and supervisors report they enjoy their work more! All of us thrive in an atmosphere of appreciation.

We believe that people in the workplace need to feel appreciated in order for them to enjoy their job, do their best work, and continue working over the long haul.

Why is feeling appreciated so important in a work setting? Because each of us wants to know that what we are doing matters.