In 1995 Dr. Gary Chapman published a book called The Five Love Languages. It describes five ways to show and experience love mainly in the relationship with your mate. In his follow up book, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, Dr. Chapman and Paul White use the same concepts in the workplace.

Are you familiar with The 5 Love Languages? They’re well-known techniques for understanding your communication habits with significant others by learning how to give and receive love in a relevant way. How about applying these methods to show love at work? Recognition is the way of showing love at the workplace. How authentically you show team recognition for a job well done?

‍In this post, we’ll be examining the five unique ways of communicating team recognition.

Let’s just start with a small instance. There was a mother with her two small kids at a grocery shop buying the daily errands. The kids were helping her pick the things she needed. And as they helped her push the cart, mother said, “Great job pushing the cart, Rihanna, you are so smart.” “Great work picking out a staple, John.”

As the kids do something, the mother answers with a positive affirmation. This is so awesome to see in action. When we are recognized for our actions, it makes us happier, healthier, more satisfied, more motivated. Right?

Similarly, recognition is a key tool at work. Teams need recognition. They need to feel it. Team recognition differs from culture to culture. Recognizing their efforts out of the spotlight is one of the best ways to motivate your team. Ultimately, it’s all about building a culture of recognition in the workplace.

Why Team Recognition?

As a manager, it is one of your duties to ensure that all individuals on your team are productive, meeting deadlines, and hitting targets; and they are happy. And how will you make this happen?

• Your leadership style
• The size of your team
• The personalities of your people
• The type of industry you work in

With the business competition growing global, retaining quality employees has become a crucial element of business success. In a study in the United States, it was found that only 12% of employees leave for more money; 88% leave for reasons like not feeling trusted or valued. If you want to be one effective manager, employee recognition is important and more important is choosing the language to show appreciation.

“Recognition is mostly about behavior,” Chapman writes in his book. “Appreciation, conversely, concentrates on execution plus the employee’s value as a person. Recognition is about changing performance and focuses on what is good for the company. Appreciation highlights what is good for the company and what is good for the person.”

The languages of appreciation will value a certain language more than another. In the book The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman holds that while everyone wants to receive all five forms of expression (words, time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch) and when a person doesn’t receive the expected love language, the love can go unseen. This applies to the workplace, too. Here the 5 languages of team recognition to practice at the workplace and can be communicated in your work setting.

1. Words of Affirmation

45% percent of employees state words of affirmation is the fundamental way to show appreciation in the workplace. A leader’s words are a powerful means to recognize employees at work. Many employees appreciate the verbal acknowledgment, so think what to say. Compliments, a simple “thank you”, applause in front of others — all are examples of common uses of words in the workplace. According to Dr. Paul White, co-author of The New York Times bestseller The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, “Almost half of all employees (over 45%) prefer receiving verbal praise as their primary language of appreciation.”

The most effective words of affirmation should be:

• Personalized and individualized
• More specific
• Tell them the importance
• Give praise by affirming their future

The ‘words of affirmation’ language is about affirming others using written or spoken words.

How To Use ProofHub for Team Recognition — ProofHub Announcements

We love ProofHub. It is a collaboration tool we can use to give recognition. There is a dedicated space — ProofHub announcements to practice employee recognition and appreciation. Every time you want to recognize someone, just add an announcement, the entire team sees it pop in the announcements section on ProofHub. Make announcements that grab the attention. #celebratewithproofHub to share achievements. ProofHub announcements are great for:

Sharing important information with everyone

Team recognition or employee recognition

Giving everyone a quick way to go through the news

Get a heads up at upcoming launches

2. Quality Time

Workplace quality time often falls into one of two categories, individual and collegial. Take a few minutes to chat with them personally. By Quality Time, it can mean having an individual time or working collaboratively with them. It’s about giving someone undivided personal attention through quality chats or conversations, shared experiences, one-on-one meetings, and check-ins or hanging out together after work. If you’ve got a company centered around teamwork should understand how this is a symbol of appreciation and belongingness in the workplace.

How ProofHub can help?

ProofHub is a collaboration tool for teams to work collaboratively over a project. Get into quick discussions with ProofHub discussion to focus on a particular matter, share ideas, and documents without having to go back and forth.

Share and discuss ideas with your team on a collaborative platform. Try ProofHub.

3. Acts of Service

Acts of Service are simple actions to really help someone out. It’s about taking actions to get things done. Random act of kindness is the preferred language of appreciation. The motto is, “Don’t tell me you care; show me.” small gestures that show teams they are valued can go a long way.

An act of service should be encouraging for the team. The action needs to be done voluntarily like, helping with a tough project, bringing them some food when they’re working for longer hours, helping with technology problems, carrying office supplies and delivering lunch or coffee, providing extra assistance for tough situations, and many more.

4. Tangible Gifts

Companies usually waste millions of dollars giving gifts to employees that they really don’t want and which do little to improve performance. A gift may be completely superficial if it is given without showing appreciation — especially if it doesn’t cost them anything. Make sure you bring tangible rewards that are truly encouraging to those who receive them. Tangible gifts involve offering thoughtful, non-monetary gifts (a gift the person values), a gift that answers — “What would this person enjoy? What are their passions? What would make them feel special?” The fact that you gave a thought and took time to think about what they would like will be a lot appreciated.

These types of gifts include:

• Tickets to professional sporting events.
• Gift cards to salons or restaurants.
• Tickets to cultural events.
• Recreational activities pass.
• Shopping “bucks” at a local mall.
• Gift cards to a bookstore, or iTunes

5. Physical Touch

High five for completing a project, congratulatory handshake for closing a deal, fist bump for solving a big issue, a pat on the back for completing a milestone are examples of appropriate physical touch in the workplace. Though this is a not preferred language of appreciation in all cultures. It is more deeply rooted in some cultures (Italian, Portuguese, Latin America) than others (North European countries, Asia). This is a sensitive form of appreciation compared to the other 4 languages. This is just appropriate in the workplace as a spontaneous celebration.

Explore ProofHub to keep your team on track. Sign up for free!

WANT TO RECOGNIZE YOUR TEAM?

Recognizing your team isn’t as easy as it might seem. That said, we’ve discussed the five different languages of appreciation that managers should keep in mind.

So, don’t just wait for the first Friday of March to celebrate your employees rather make everyday ‘Employee Appreciation Day’ for them.

If you enjoyed this…

Read the other articles:

1. How to Engage Employees Through Recognition
2. Top 10 Ways to Show Appreciation to People Who Are Key to Your Business
3. Employee Empowerment: The Right Way to Do It
4. The Most Effective Ways to Prepare Your Team for a Project

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