Here’s How Smart Companies Tackle Burnout Using Employee Appreciation
Earlier this year, I was a keynote speaker at a company’s Employee Appreciation Day. Burnout and appreciation are closely linked. PsychTests' researchers analyzed data from 7,050 employees. Here are three key findings:
54% of unappreciated employees felt the amount of stress they deal with at work is more than they can handle (compared to 13% of appreciated workers).
81% of unappreciated employees felt trapped in their job (compared to 20% of appreciated workers).
58% of unappreciated employees said the thought of going to work makes them feel physically ill (compared to 18% of appreciated workers).
In a previous column, I shared how 96% of employees believe that recognition in the workplace leads to a stronger workplace culture, and yet sadly, research by O.C. Tanner has found that 65% of Americans claimed they weren't even recognized once last year.
When employees aren't appreciated, they are also more likely to quit their jobs too. O.C. Tanner's research also showed that 79% of employees who quit their jobs claim that a lack of appreciation was a significant reason.
To add to the necessary conversation on appreciation in the workplace, I touched base with Dr. Paul White. Dr. White is a psychologist and international leadership trainer who "makes work relationships work." He is the co-author of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, which has sold over 425,000 copies.
Here are the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, along with suggestions.
Words of Affirmation: one-on-one communication; praise them in front of a group of team members; write a handwritten note;
Quality Time: focused attention, quality conversation, shared experiences,
Acts of Service: ask a coworker if they need help
Tangible Gifts: small items that show you know your coworker personally
Physical Touch: congratulatory handshake, 'high five,' pat on the back
In my conversation with Dr. White, we spoke about the difference between recognition and appreciation, what appreciation looks like in the workplace and, of course, burnout.
Rachel Montañez: What concerns you most about burnout?
Dr. Paul White: My two greatest concerns about organizational burnout are first, its insidious nature. Most of us aren't aware that we are "burning out" until the symptoms are blatant and severe. As a result, we are fighting the problem from a position of weakness – our resources are already depleted.
Secondly, the far-reaching impact burnout has across a person's life and community. It impacts our relationships, our family life, how we treat those we interact with in daily interactions and we tend to not follow-through on other responsibilities.
Montañez: Why do you feel it's essential to understand the difference between recognition & appreciation?
White: Aside from recognizing one's length of service (which has very little impact on anyone's future behavior), the focus of recognition is performance. In contrast, while appreciation can contain an aspect of being recognized for good performance, appreciation has a more holistic view.
If we don't understand this difference, we reduce our interactions to purely functional and economic terms and lose sight of all of the wonderful, unique talents and characteristics that are not directly related to roles at work.
Montañez: What do you feel gets in the way of employers seeing appreciation as a good investment?
White: The narrow perspective they seem to have been taught regarding how to determine the value of their employees. Conversely, when employers understand the critical role that emotional and social factors contribute to the long-term functioning of their employees, then employees feel appreciated.
Montañez: The 1st chapter in your book talks about what employees want most. What are the key differences between an employee’s and stakeholder’s needs?
White: As defined and used in our culture (until very recently), a key difference is that stakeholders' needs have largely been framed in economic terms, but employees are people first. So, a tension develops between the view of the employee as a resource to be used to attain an economic result and the reality that employees are not production units but individuals.
Montañez: What do you feel are the similarities between an employee’s and a stakeholder’s needs?
White: Although both groups may not always be aware of it, they're both faced with the constant challenge of identifying their goals, figuring out how they want to pursue those goals and determining the priorities for allocating their limited resources. This then leads to the ongoing process of evaluating and re-evaluating their priorities and making "trade-offs" in choosing which resources they are going to use for what task today.
Montañez: Share something overlooked about The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.
White: Not everyone feels appreciated in the same ways. While we intellectually consent to this as being true, the way that we actually relate to others is that most of us have one, two or maybe three ways of communicating appreciation.
Montañez: What's your best advice for a company seeking to improve well-being and corporate culture through appreciation?
White: Start with small units of the organization rather than try to do a full "top-down" implementation program. Identify supervisors and managers who are interested in taking their team through a process of learning how to communicate authentic appreciation with one another. Implement the concepts with them.
Learn from their experience and tweak the process to fit your organizational culture. Then, take a few more groups through the process – it will grow organically. In comparison to a "one and done" (concept-of-the-month training), the staying power of the change is amazing.
This conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity and was first published on Forbes.