Improving staff morale through authentic appreciation
Paul White
Paul White is a
Psychologist based at
Appreciation at Work, Wichita, Kansas, USA.
M
ost employees across the world today do not feel valued at work. Supervisors know that their team members are “doing more with less,” feeling stressed, and many times, are approaching burnout. And in today’s financial climate, raises and
other forms of financial compensation have been held to a minimum. As a result, supervisors and managers are feeling stuck when it comes to knowing how to support their employees and reward them for their hard work.
Employee recognition programs are not working
Over 80 per cent of all organizations and businesses in the USA are reported to have some form of employee recognition activities. But, at the same time, job satisfaction and employee engagement are actually declining. Gallup (2013) found that 70 per cent of US employees are either marginally engaged or totally disengaged at their current place of employment. This is the highest level of disengagement found in over a decade.
Although 51 per cent of supervisors say they recognize employees who do a good job, only 17 per cent of the employees at the same organizations report that their supervisors recognize them sufficiently (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012). In fact, 65 per cent of the workforce report receiving no recognition at work in the past 12 months (Rath and Clifton, 2004). Interestingly, research shows that non-financial factors are actually key to improving employee morale and motivation (Mercer, 2011).
Why the negative responses to recognition?
Even though most employee recognition activities are well-intentioned, they actually often lead to negative results. As a psychologist and consultant, I have assisted numerous businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies create more positive environments for their staff. But, when I ask about their employee recognition program, the most common responses range from apathy (“Yea, we have one – I think”) to cynicism (one employee stated bluntly, “They don’t give a rip about me; they just do this to try to make themselves look good.”). These negative responses come from a variety of factors:
The generic approach many programs use–when everyone gets the same certificate or gift card–makes it feel impersonal.
Ninety per cent of all recognition programs primarily recognize tenure of service, which does little to motivate staff.
The practice of giving recognition in front of a group is uncomfortable for many people. Our research has found that 30-40 per cent of employees do not want to go up in front of a large group to be recognized.
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Most recognition programs heavily emphasize tangible rewards – plaques, certificates, gift cards and small tokens. While most people do not mind receiving gifts, only 10 per cent of employees cite receiving rewards as their preferred method of being appreciated.
Feeling appreciated is critical
Why is feeling appreciated so important in a work setting? Because each of us wants to know that what we are doing matters. A recent survey conducted by the Chicago Tribune of over 30,000 individuals found that the number one reason cited by employees who enjoy their work was: “I feel genuinely appreciated at this company” (Huppke, 2013).
Without a sense of being valued by supervisors and colleagues, employees start to feel like a commodity or that they are being used. When employees do not feel valued, the negative results are predictable. Staff:
start to call in “sick” more frequently and/or show up late for work more often;
become demotivated and the quality of their work declines (as do patient satisfaction ratings);
complain more about their work, their colleagues and their supervisor; and
become emotionally detached and start to search for other employment opportunities.
Misconceptions about appreciation
Communicating appreciation is not the same as giving a passing compliment or encouraging people to say “thank you” more. A superficial approach does not work and creates resentment and cynicism. The goal is not to just “go through the motions” but to communicate authentic appreciation for the value each team member contributes to the practice.
Core conditions for appreciation
In our work with organizations across the world, we have found four conditions that need to be present for team members to feel truly appreciated (Chapman and White, 2011).
1. Appreciation is communicated regularly. What does regularly mean? It varies depending on the work setting, the frequency of interaction between coworkers, and the nature of the relationship. However, it clearly implies more than once a year at a performance review or when someone receives a “Staff Member of the Month” award.
2. Appreciation is communicated through language and actions important to the recipient. Most of us communicate appreciation through actions we value, but those actions may not be meaningful to our colleagues. Some people value words of affirmation, while others are encouraged when someone helps them with a task. Spending time is another way to demonstrate support. One scheduler reported, “I just want my supervisor to stop by my office every once in a while and see how I’m doing.” Bringing a colleague a cup of coffee when you know your colleague worked late last night can be a pick me up. Even a celebratory high five or a fist bump when a difficult project has been completed can be valuable.
3. Appreciation is personal and individualized. Recognition of a group effort is a good start (“our patient satisfaction ratings are up”), but if the appreciation does not relate to how an individual team member contributed to the task, the communication can fall flat. People want to hear about what they have done – that you appreciate that they remained calm while relating to a difficult customer, or that
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you noticed them providing assistance to a new employee learning the computer billing system.
4. Appreciation feels authentic. If the recipient does not believe the appreciation is genuine, nothing else really matters. What makes appreciation seem inauthentic? Teams we have worked with mentioned these factors:
A person’s tone of voice or facial expressions do not seem to match their words.
How a person relates to you in front of others differs from how they interact with you privately.
A past relational conflict has not been addressed.
The person offering the praise appears to have an ulterior motive.
How do you get past people’s perception that you do not truly value them? There is no magic bullet. But the best course of action is to repeatedly and regularly communicate appreciation in the language and actions important to your colleague about specific actions or character qualities that you value. Over time, you may be able to convince them that you truly mean what you are saying.
Creating a culture of appreciation
Appreciation has the most positive effect on workplace culture when both coworkers and supervisors offer it. A top-down approach does not work as well as an “any-direction” model. We have consistently been told by team members that they want to know how to encourage one another, as well as receive appreciation from their supervisor.
Additionally, we argue against implementing a system-wide, mandated appreciation program. If all staff are told that everyone will be trained to communicate appreciation, that edict automatically undermines the perception of authenticity of any appreciation communicated. We recommend that the concepts of authentic appreciation be shared, and supervisors are given the resources to apply the concepts to their work group, if they choose. For example, having each team member take an inventory that identifies their preferred ways of receiving appreciation is an excellent starting point.
Our experience has shown that true, significant change does occur in workplaces when the right people (which could mean anyone, regardless of position) implement the right actions (that is, authentic actions) at the right time (when people choose to and have the desire to engage in the process). Then the benefits of people feeling truly valued for their contributions to the practice will be seen – positive interactions, less conflict and improved results toward your organization’s goals.