Every time an employee leaves the company it costs the company time, money and effort to replace them. Most of the research suggests the amount of money it costs to replace an employee is at least equal to and often greater than their leaving annual salary. So ensuring that we keep our valued employees is not only sensible, it’s cost effective.
So why do employees really leave companies? Most managers believe that their employees leave the companies they work for because of money. This is simply not true. A four year study conducted by a leading third-party exit interviewing firm in the United States found these results from thousands of interviews:
- 89% of managers believed that their employees left for more money and 11% for other reasons.
It was quite the opposite in fact though:
- only 12% cited money as the reason for leaving and 88% for reasons other than pay.
Most of the reasons given for leaving had some psychological base such as not feeling trusted or valued. In fact, many businesses are at risk of losing quality employees because they feel unappreciated or unvalued. If supervisors and managers are unaware of this, they will focus more on the financial benefits. This is futile when the attitude of staff becomes one of, “They couldn’t pay me enough to stay here!” In addition to this, managers consistently report that the process of hiring and training new staff is one of the most disliked tasks they have.
Praise & Recognition
A recent Gallup poll in the United States reported that 70% of people receive no praise or recognition in the workplace.
There is a definite correlation between staff retention, staff engagement, job satisfaction and the appreciation that is shown them in the workplace. The level of satisfaction at work is significantly influenced by how appreciated they feel by those around them – managers and co-workers.
Companies spend vast amounts of money on reward and recognition programmes, whereas engaging in simple ‘Motivation by Appreciation’ techniques is inexpensive and easily adapted into the regular working framework and can prove to have much more impact on employee engagement and their retention.
Appreciation in the Workplace
Following the very successful ‘5 love languages‘, Gary Chapman teamed up with Paul White and worked through the application in the working environment. Their four year studies have led to amazing results for businesses who have adopted the principles to great effect. In basic terms, people respond to appreciation being shown in ‘their language of appreciation’. We are all different and we respond to appreciation showed in different ways. The five main ‘languages of appreciation’ are:
1. Words of Affirmation
2. Tangible Gifts
3. Quality Time
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Touch.
Understanding which ‘language of appreciation’ each of your staff members responds to will help guide managers how to show appreciation to them. This needs to be done sincerely of course and in a world where employees are expected to do more work for less pay, if managers can learn to express meaningful appreciation they may make the difference between success and failure for a business. Employees who feel valued will be more loyal to the business than those that don’t.
The Real Question
Many managers reading this article may feel that they do appreciate their co-workers and their staff and many will say they show it too. This is not the question to ask. The real question is, ‘Do your staff FEEL appreciated?’. We may feel like we show appreciation but if it is not in the way our staff want it, it may mean nothing. For example, if a manager tells a staff member frequently that he appreciates all they do, he may feel he has shown appreciation. However, if that staff member could really do with some help sometimes, they may feel that the words are meaningless. If the manager really understood the staff member and helped them out with a task or two, the appreciation would be ‘felt’ by the staff member and register highly to them.
Which Language?
The detail for each language requires a separate article for each one to do them justice, so watch out for other articles on this site that will explain them. You may understand your own language of appreciation but that may not be what each of your staff members need. Truly understanding this concept can motivate your staff members to be more loyal and increase engagement and productivity without increases in salary or bonuses. Try today to find out which way your staff members wish to be shown appreciation. It may surprise you and if you act on it, so may the results!
For more information on how this concept can help you and your managers, contact Rapid Results: www.rapid-results.com
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