BUSINESS

  PERSONNEL POINTERS

SHOW APPRECIATION

EACH EMPLOYEE COULD RESPOND BEST TO DIFFERENT METHODS OF GRATITUDE

REBECCA L. JOHNSON, C.P.O.T., C.O.T., C.O.E.

APPRECIATION IS not one-size fits all. In fact, according to authors Gary Chapman and Paul White in “The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace,” the way that you feel appreciated is not necessarily the same way as that of your team members.

Chapman and White explain that there are five basic ways to show appreciation:

1 WORDS OF AFFIRMATION

You may be surprised at how many people feel more appreciated by words of acknowledgement than by gifts. (I am one of them.) The one caveat is to be specific. Example: “Kimberly, you did a fantastic job managing the schedule today. I don’t know how we would have made it through all of the work-in patients without you.”

2 QUALITY TIME

Spending one-on-one time with a team member validates his or her importance to you. Quality time could be a planned lunch or as simple as taking time to ask about his or her weekend.

3 ACTS OF SERVICE

Helping someone with his or her tasks on a busy day might be the very thing that shows you care. One business owner I know gave an act of service every month by having a mobile car wash company come to the office to wash everyone’s cars.

4 TANGIBLE GIFTS

Most people enjoy receiving a gift. However, it is more special when the gift is specific to the person. For instance, a jersey of his or her favorite college football team or a gift certificate to his or her favorite restaurant could work.

5 APPROPRIATE PHYSICAL TOUCH

This could include high-fives, handshakes, fist bumps and pats on the back. As seen in sports, these also translate well in the work environment.

WHAT IS YOUR METHOD?

These five methods need to be communicated genuinely and based on what the team member positively responds to. One way to gather this information could be to ask him or her to post to social media a fun picture that shows what his or her language of appreciation is. Include information about the Chapman and White book as a reference point, perhaps by making it available in a common area. This way, everyone on the team learns to encourage each other in the most meaningful way. Either way, waiting until the performance evaluation to show gratitude is not enough to keep a motivated team. OM

MS. JOHNSON is the founder and president of Eyetrain4you and the executive director of business services for GPN. Email her at Rebecca@GatewayPN.com, or visit tinyurl.com/OMcomment to comment on this article.