{Excerpted from an article at business know-how.com}
The one thing your competition can’t steal or copy is your company culture. Make your small business’ employees feel appreciated and valued by creating a great company culture using these tips from Piyush Patel, author of Lead Your Tribe, Love Your Work.
How many times have you heard People don’t quit jobs they quit managers? If only he would have thanked me just once! I would have stuck it out. Or, They never told me I was doing a bad job, but they never told me I was doing a good job, either. Or simply, I never felt appreciated.
When confronted with these types of statements, the managers in question often say, I told them they were doing a good job all the time! Truthfully, they may have ¦but not in a way that meant anything to the person getting the message.
Here’s a simple yet profound idea: how about we provide affirmation in a way that means something to each person?
In The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, author Gary Chapman posits that there are five primary ways (or languages ) that demonstrate love ¦and each person’s language is different:
- Words of affirmation, such as a verbal thank you or a handwritten note.
- Acts of service, such as helping a co-worker with a project even though you don’t have to.
- Giving or receiving gifts, such as getting your friend their favorite candy bar or a cup of coffee.
- Spending quality time, such as listening to your teammate for a few minutes, or taking time to have lunch or meeting for happy hour.
- Appropriate physical touch, such as a pat on the back or a congratulatory handshake.
Did you ever learn about psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Maslow ranked human needs from our most immediate priorities (which he placed at the bottom of a pyramid) to our most abstract needs (which he placed at the pyramid’s peak). He said that our basic needs food and shelter should be addressed first. Similarly, when thinking about people’s motivation at work, their most fundamental drive is to cover basic needs. They need a paycheck so they can buy food and provide for their families.
Maslow said after those basic needs are met that we, as social animals, need more. We need love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.
