{"id":24419,"date":"2024-01-09T09:23:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T15:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/?p=24419"},"modified":"2024-01-09T09:23:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T15:23:10","slug":"lessons-learned-about-appreciation-from-400000-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appreciationatwork.com\/blog\/lessons-learned-about-appreciation-from-400000-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons Learned About Appreciation from 400,000 Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"The<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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In December 2023 we passed a milestone: over 400,000 individuals have taken our Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory<\/a>  <\/em>to identify how they prefer to be shown appreciation at work. (This total includes individuals from over the past 12 years, including pre-COVID-19, during quarantine, and post-COVID-19.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to celebrating this accomplishment (and offering a special discount \u2013 see below), we thought we\u2019d also share some of the things we\u2019ve learned over the years from the results of the inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons Learned   <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The need for being appreciated hasn\u2019t diminished and continues to be an ongoing <\/span>desire. <\/strong>The number of people who have taken the MBA Inventory <\/em>has grown from ~11,500 in its first year, to a high of over 56,000 in one year. During an average workday, between 175 to 250 people will take the inventory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Getting specific is important.<\/span> Over the years, we have created eleven different versions of the Expanded MBA Inventory <\/em>related to specific industries<\/a>. The primary goal has been to develop versions where the actions for each appreciation language are practically relevant to those employees. These versions include General Workplaces, Remote\/Long Distance employees, Medical settings, Ministries & Nonprofits, Military, Schools (K-12), Government agencies, Senior Care settings, Professional Trades, Veterinarians, and Dental practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Appreciation crosses cultures<\/span>.\u00a0In response to requests by publishers and consultants,<\/em> our book \u00a0has been translated into 26 languages<\/a>, and the inventory<\/a> is available in 8 languages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English               <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

French         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mandarin<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danish               <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portuguese<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thai<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(with Hungarian coming in 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We continue to have requests for additional languages of the inventory, and we are currently analyzing data from the MBA Inventory <\/em>results in these languages (watch for the coming research.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The frequency of individual\u2019s preferred appreciation language has been incredibly stable over time.<\/span> In 2016, when we reached 100,000 MBA Inventory takers<\/a>, we found the following distribution of primary language preferences, which is followed by the distribution in research done in 2022 with (at that time) the most recent 110,000 users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                     Words            Quality           Acts            Tangible<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

               of Affirmation     Time        of Service          Gifts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016             47%                   25%             22%                6%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023             45%                   27%              21%                7%<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can see that among English-speakers (mostly in the U.S.), the preferences of individuals\u2019 primary appreciation language have remained the same over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Differences exist across work groups.<\/span> When exploring various work settings, we found a few trends which demonstrate differences in preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n