Cindy Pitts Gilbert spoke to the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville on Monday, July 25 about the Five Languages of Appreciation. The Five Languages are based on Dr. Gary Chapman’s work on the Five Love Languages. The basic philosophy of the love/appreciation languages is that everyone has a preferred style of showing appreciation and receiving it, and when there is a mismatch between two people’s styles, conflict and misunderstandings arise. Anyone can learn their appreciation language by taking the MBA Inventory, which requires a paid access code. You can discover your love language through this quick, free inventory.
Cindy noted that 79% of people who leave jobs say they left due to lack of appreciation and 65% of workers say they haven’t experienced appreciation at work in the past year. This leads to a lack of engagement, poor work relationships, and decreased job satisfaction. The five languages are:
- gifts
- quality time
- words of affirmation
- acts of service
- physical touch.
Appreciation is an often-overlooked leadership skill. Understanding your team’s appreciation languages will help build better work relationships and increase job satisfaction.