{"id":23400,"date":"2022-05-31T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/?p=23400"},"modified":"2022-05-30T22:18:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T03:18:40","slug":"appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When you hear the word \u2018appreciation,\u2019 what comes to mind? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer may vary depending on the context of the situation. When it comes to financial investments, you want your assets to appreciate \u2013 to increase in value (this is also true for real estate and even your home). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In personal relationships, we often feel compelled to communicate appreciation (that is, gratitude) when a friend or family member has done something to help us out, like helping us move into a new home, or bringing a meal when you\u2019ve just had a baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in the workplace, a person\u2019s response to the word \u2018appreciation\u2019 varies depending on their prior experience and associations with the concept. For many, especially those who have been in the business world for a while, the first association that comes to mind is recognition<\/em> (and specifically, employee recognition<\/em>). For years (decades, actually), employees have been exposed to \u201cEmployee Recognition Days \/ Weeks \/ Awards \/ Banquets.\u201d During these events the words appreciate or appreciation are used frequently. But as I have written about elsewhere<\/a> employee recognition is not<\/u><\/strong> the same thing as appreciation, even though in some situations they can overlap. Hence, the confusion and tendency to use the concepts interchangeably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another idea that people frequently associate with the concept of appreciation is telling someone \u2018thanks\u2019 \u2013<\/em> primarily, thanks for doing some task or getting something done. This is probably the most common use of the term in the workplace, and is, generally, fine \u2013 up to a point. Essentially, this usage limits the full scope of the word. We are<\/u><\/strong> often grateful for assistance and tasks completed by our colleagues. And communicating our gratitude is good to do. The problem is the majority of people at work don\u2019t value words as the main way they would like to be shown appreciation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the data we have gathered over the past decade from more than 325,000 individuals across the globe, over half of employees prefer to be shown appreciation in ways other than words<\/em><\/strong>. While 46% of respondents do choose Words of Affirmation as their preferred language to be shown appreciation, that leaves 54% who want appreciation communicated in a different way. Some people think that words are \u2018cheap,\u2019 and agree with the saying \u201cDon\u2019t tell me you care, show me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, many people\u2019s most valued resource is time. As a result, when someone you respect or admire (or just, enjoy the company of) chooses to spend time with you, you probably feel valued and appreciated. This is one of the core concepts underlying the 5 languages of appreciation \u2013 that not everyone feels valued in the same ways, and communicating appreciation in the manner desired by the recipient<\/em> is the most impactful form of communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to address the misconceptions people have about appreciation because many people respond to the idea of communicating authentic appreciation as unneeded based on their misconception. \u201cWe already have an employee recognition program, why do we need to learn how to show appreciation?\u201d \u201cI tell my team members \u2018thanks\u2019 when they do a good job.\u201d But true appreciation, the kind that makes employees feel valued (and also makes them more likely to stay at their current job) than a \u201cgood job on the presentation team\u201d group email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a challenge: Ask your colleagues (or supervisor) how many different ways they can think of to show appreciation to coworkers besides<\/em> telling them thanks or sending them a note. What other actions are able to identify? It\u2019s possible they will mention giving a gift, which is something they might have observed in the context of employee recognition. (This can be problematic given that only 6% of employees say that getting a gift is the main way they want to be appreciated.) Even if you add those who prefer Words of Affirmation, you would still \u201cmiss\u201d over 50% of employees who want to be shown appreciation in different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember: true<\/em> appreciation is communicating to others that you value them as a person<\/em> (not just for what they do) and doing so in the way that is meaningful to them.<\/em> Authentic appreciation is communicated person to person<\/em> and is qualitatively different than \u201cgoing through the motions.\u201d Use the correct language for each individual and you will experience positive results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you hear the word \u2018appreciation,\u2019 what comes to mind?  The answer may vary depending on the context of the situation. When it comes to financial investments, you want your assets to appreciate \u2013 to increase in value (this is also true for real estate and even your home).  In personal relationships, we often feel… Continue reading…<\/a>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,133,198,118,232],"tags":[166],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is - Appreciation at Work<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What comes to mind when you hear the word appreciation? Most people assume recognition is the same thing as appreciation, but it's not. Learn how to do workplace appreciation right.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is - Appreciation at Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What comes to mind when you hear the word appreciation? Most people assume recognition is the same thing as appreciation, but it's not. Learn how to do workplace appreciation right.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Appreciation at Work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-31T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-31T03:18:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/older-employee-and-trophy.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drpaulwhite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@drpaulwhite\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul White\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Paul White\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/695df42d67dbe288b5b2db6cd2ff58ac\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-31T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-31T03:18:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"appreciation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"5 Languages of Appreciation\",\"Appreciation\",\"Authenticity\",\"Managing By Appreciation\",\"Recognition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is - Appreciation at Work\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-31T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-31T03:18:40+00:00\",\"description\":\"What comes to mind when you hear the word appreciation? Most people assume recognition is the same thing as appreciation, but it's not. Learn how to do workplace appreciation right.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/\",\"name\":\"Appreciation at Work\",\"description\":\"Making Work Relationships Work with Authentic Appreciation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Appreciation at Work\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AAW-Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AAW-Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1075,\"height\":281,\"caption\":\"Appreciation at Work\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/drpaulwhite\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5-languages-of-appreciation-in-the-workplace\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drpaulwhite\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AppreciationAtWork\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/695df42d67dbe288b5b2db6cd2ff58ac\",\"name\":\"Paul White\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/avatar_user_8_1663256855-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/avatar_user_8_1663256855-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Paul White\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Paul White is a psychologist whose focus is \\\"making work relationships work\\\". Co-author of the best-selling, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace has sold 500,000+ copies. His company, Appreciation at Work, teaches employees and leaders how to communicate authentic appreciation, which improves employee engagement and organizational functioning. They have an online assessment, the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory (taken by 275,000+) which identifies the specific ways individuals prefer to be shown appreciation.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/appreciationatwork\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paul-white-ph-d-3178276\/detail\/recent-activity\/shares\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drpaulwhite\/_created\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/drpaulwhite\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is - Appreciation at Work","description":"What comes to mind when you hear the word appreciation? Most people assume recognition is the same thing as appreciation, but it's not. Learn how to do workplace appreciation right.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is - Appreciation at Work","og_description":"What comes to mind when you hear the word appreciation? Most people assume recognition is the same thing as appreciation, but it's not. Learn how to do workplace appreciation right.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/","og_site_name":"Appreciation at Work","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork","article_published_time":"2022-05-31T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-31T03:18:40+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/older-employee-and-trophy.jpg"}],"author":"Paul White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drpaulwhite","twitter_site":"@drpaulwhite","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul White","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/"},"author":{"name":"Paul White","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/695df42d67dbe288b5b2db6cd2ff58ac"},"headline":"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is","datePublished":"2022-05-31T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-31T03:18:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/"},"wordCount":723,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["appreciation"],"articleSection":["5 Languages of Appreciation","Appreciation","Authenticity","Managing By Appreciation","Recognition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/","url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/","name":"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is - Appreciation at Work","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-05-31T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-31T03:18:40+00:00","description":"What comes to mind when you hear the word appreciation? Most people assume recognition is the same thing as appreciation, but it's not. Learn how to do workplace appreciation right.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/appreciation-may-not-be-what-you-think-it-is\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Appreciation\u2019 May Not Be What You Think It Is"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/","name":"Appreciation at Work","description":"Making Work Relationships Work with Authentic Appreciation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#organization","name":"Appreciation at Work","url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AAW-Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AAW-Logo.jpg","width":1075,"height":281,"caption":"Appreciation at Work"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork","https:\/\/twitter.com\/drpaulwhite","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/5-languages-of-appreciation-in-the-workplace","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drpaulwhite\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AppreciationAtWork"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/695df42d67dbe288b5b2db6cd2ff58ac","name":"Paul White","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/avatar_user_8_1663256855-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/avatar_user_8_1663256855-96x96.jpg","caption":"Paul White"},"description":"Dr. Paul White is a psychologist whose focus is \"making work relationships work\". Co-author of the best-selling, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace has sold 500,000+ copies. His company, Appreciation at Work, teaches employees and leaders how to communicate authentic appreciation, which improves employee engagement and organizational functioning. They have an online assessment, the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory (taken by 275,000+) which identifies the specific ways individuals prefer to be shown appreciation.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/appreciationatwork","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/appreciationatwork\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/paul-white-ph-d-3178276\/detail\/recent-activity\/shares\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/drpaulwhite\/_created\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/drpaulwhite"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4rPvw-65q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23400"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23400"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23422,"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23400\/revisions\/23422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}