The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. Empowering Organizations by Encouraging People By Gary Chapman & Paul White
You’ve probably heard of the five ‘love languages’, which are the different ways that people show love, or like to have it shown to them. Chapman and White have applied this concept to the ways that bosses or colleagues can show appreciation at work. The book gives examples of how the five languages can be applied in a work setting, alongside cautionary tales about getting it wrong. Here’s one: Nurses who received a photocopied note with a mint attached, saying ‘We appreciate you’ on Employee Appreciation Day were so incensed that one third of them resigned within the next 90 days.
Personally, I think the love-language at work concept is at times a bit stretched. Gift-giving and physical touch, for example, seem to contain more examples of bad outcomes than good. Nevertheless, there are some good ideas for employers to consider.
