Have you ever received a gift at work and felt....meh! Have you felt a half-hearted thank you or insincere appreciation offered? It's all too common in the workplace. Managers who feel they are showing appreciation through gifts or recognition sometimes get it completely wrong.
Not what was wanted
We are all different and have varying preferences. For some of us, a sincere thank you from a manager goes a lot further than a gift - especially if a gift is not really thought through. Some of the worst gifts an employer can give include:
- Left over marketing materials after returning from a conference
- Logo marketing materials (mugs, pens, shirts) with last year's logo and tagline
- A big box of chocolates to a Type I diabetic
- A bottle of wine to those who don't drink (or a recovering alcoholic)
- A company created calendar FOR LAST YEAR!
Sometimes, these things can be so insensitive. Employees choose a tangible gift as their least valued way to be shown appreciation almost 70% of the time. So why do managers insist on that form of motivation. It either shows a lack of creativity or lack of understanding of their team member's interests. If you really want to give a gift of something they really will appreciate - give them time off!
Try something simple and sincere
Firstly, learn what ways your team members like to be shown appreciation. For many, it's a simple, sincere thank you - not something you say in passing but a personalised note or verbal compliment for what they are doing or for something they have done.
Sincerity is a key component to any form of appreciation. People aren't stupid. They can tell if something is sincere or not. You're better off saying and doing nothing than being insincere.
Three simple rules
The three basic rules for showing appreciation to someone are these:
It must be Sincere
It must be Targeted
It must be Appropriate
We've already covered sincerity but it must also be targeted. What specific thing are you showing appreciation for? A blanket "Thank You" can come across as a bit thoughtless. If someone says "Thanks for all you do", sure it's nice but what specifically do they appreciate? If someone says, "Thank you so much for that latest report. You must have taken extra care on the content. It was the best report I've seen of that type. Even the images reflected the message. I really appreciate all the effort you put in to it. Thank you" - that's pretty targeted and specific and sounds like it was sincere too.
Any show of appreciation should also be appropriate. Not too big and not too small. Consistency is also key.
And finally
Lastly, consider this one last question to help you in your showing of appreciation:
It's not about you showing appreciation, it's about you're staff feeling appreciated
Thanks for reading. For more details on appreciation techniques and languages, check out this article on 'Motivation by Appreciation'
About the Author:
These days Derek's focus is on researching the changes in training trends and developing his online micro video training organisation LearningPlanet which is currently accessed by thousands of users across a number of countries.
For more information visit www.learningplanet.me and his Amazon page for leadership books.
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