Taking the 5 Love Languages to the Workplace
Most Christian leaders are familiar with the 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman. But many are unaware of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, where Dr. Chapman and I apply the 5 languages to work-based relationships.
The importance of appreciation
You may think you are doing okay in this area–that your employees know you appreciate them. But a national employee recognition survey across numerous companies found that 51% of managers think they do a good job of recognizing employees for work well done. However, only 17% of the employees who worked for those managers felt the manager did an adequate job of recognizing them. Obviously, there’s a disconnect somewhere.
Additionally, in a global study of 200,000 employees, the Boston Consulting Group discovered the number one factor employees reported for enjoying their job was that they felt appreciated. Financial compensation didn’t show up until number eight. And MIT found that employees are three times more likely to resign due to not feeling appreciated than they are due to inadequate compensation.
Misconceptions about appreciation
Organizational leaders often hold beliefs about appreciation which AREN’T true, including:
- The goal is to make people feel good. The real goal of having team members feel appreciated is that the result is a more effective, functional organization. We have over 50 research citations showing that employees who feel truly appreciated lead to reduced turnover, increased productivity, higher customer ratings–and even greater profitability.
- Employee recognition and appreciation are the same. Over 90% of companies have some form of recognition program, but their focus is on performance. We focus on showing appreciation for who they are–we believe employees are individuals created by God who have value beyond what they get done.
- Appreciation is saying ‘thanks’ and giving compliments. From the results of our online assessment with over 400,000 employees, less than half choose words as the main way they want to be appreciated. So if you only use words, you are missing the mark with over half of your team members.
- Leaders are primarily responsible for communicating appreciation. We discovered that younger employees are more focused on being valued by their peers, where senior employees desire being appreciated by their supervisor. As a result, we train leaders and team members how to show appreciation to one another.
What the 5 languages of appreciation look like in daily work life
The languages are the same in name as the 5 love languages, but are expressed differently at work.
- Words of Affirmation. Share what the person has done (or character quality demonstrated) and why that is important to you or the organization.
- Quality Time. Individual, focused attention is meaningful to many, while younger employees tend to prefer hanging out with their colleagues and peers.
- Acts of Service. Giving assistance when a colleague is working on a time-limited project or in a service setting, when overwhelmed by the number of people needing help.
- Tangible Gifts. Not financial benefits, but simple items to show you are getting to know them and what they like–favorite drink or snack, an item related to a hobby or their favorite sports team.
- Appropriate Physical Touch. Influenced significantly by culture, gestures like a high five, a fist bump, or a handshake are common.
We desire to provide Christians in the workplace with the tools to practically show the love of Christ to their coworkers, and have found the languages of appreciation can communicate “You are important and valued” in any work setting.
