Nearly 80% say Lack of Appreciation is a Major Reason for Leaving
One highly motivated leader said, “A simple pat on the back would sure feel good.”
79 percent of employees who quit their jobs claim that a lack of appreciation was a major reason for leaving. (NBC)
An under-recognized employee is twice as likely to say they plan to quit in the next year. Gallup reports that only one in three workers in the U.S. strongly agree that they received recognition in the past seven days.
Recognition:
- Causes people to feel seen.
- Gives value to work. The more important something is, the more we notice it. Unnoticed work eventually loses its value.
- Tells people what matters.
- Motivates when it’s genuine.
Appreciation is letting someone know they’re doing a good job. Recognition includes letting others know the same thing.
3 reasons leaders resist giving recognition:
#1. Time.
You’re too busy getting things done to waste time giving recognition. But what if giving recognition helps people get things done?
#2. Discomfort.
You might resist giving recognition because you don’t need it. You think, “Tell me what to do and I’ll get it done. Just leave me alone.”
Giving genuine recognition requires humility.
Arrogance uses recognition to manipulate. Humility gives recognition to honor.
#3. Misjudgment.
You wrongly think that weak people need recognition – strong people don’t.
Receive recognition:
Leaders who belittle or reject recognition train people not to give it.
3 ways to receive recognition:
- Tell people how it feels when they show you respect. If it feels good, say it. Don’t say, “No big deal,” when it is a big deal.
- Show gratitude to others when you’re recognized. Say, “I work with great people,” for example.
- Don’t talk about all the work you did. Just be thankful.
What prevents leaders from giving recognition?
What are some simple recognition practices?
Such an important topic. So many managers we talk to say they feel they are not getting enough appreciation– which is frustrating for managers who work so hard to appreciate their own teams. An interesting finding of our Courageous Cultures research, was that 56% said the reason they don’t share an important idea is for fear that they would not get credit. So, lack of appreciation can stifle innovation too. https://letsgrowleaders.com/psychological-safety-why-people-dont-speak-up-at-work/
Thanks Karin. What a powerful statistic! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Dan for a particularly relevant Labor Day devotional! Of ‘simple recognition practices,’ may I suggest that a force-multiplier is delivering that praise in a group. In addition to sincere recognition, it helps strengthen culture by setting/clarifying standards and expectations in a positive way, building teamwork, and boosting motivation. Done effectively and appropriately it can “seed” (nearly) self-sustaining reinforcement loops within the team: peer-to-peer recognition stacked atop that from a leader.
Problem–my boss never gives me any recognition.
Solution–meet with your boss and say, “I think I did a great job on task-ABC. How do you think I did?
There’s a danger that appreciation is felt to be a suitable replacement for paying people. During the main part of the Covid pandemic last year, here in the UK we had “Clap for Carers”, where at 1900 hours every Thursday, everybody was encouraged to come out of their houses (suitably socially distanced) to applaud health workers and others for what they were doing. This escalated from applause, to banging pots, to setting off fireworks. And when the dust settled, nobody would entertain paying those staff any more. Appreciation may be nice, but it doesn’t pay the rent.
Managers’ success is based on their Team’s success. If managers want to be successful they must do all they can to facilitate and recognize and reward their Team’s success. Always!
Dear Dan,
Mere appreciation is not enough! Good bosses do that but fail to recognize good work with rewards like adequate monetary rise or promotion at the end of a year.
Company to company policies differ! With a weaker HR Cell, bosses determine on rewards/promotion more on subjectivity basis. Private owned companies or semi-professional organizations are good example of this kind.
As a leader, I work hard to show appreciation to my staff and colleagues. I sometimes get bummed out because I think many leaders don’t think appreciating leaders themselves is important.
Thanks Emily Jane. The desire to be appreciated is nearly universal, I think. But in leadership appreciation often flows out, but doesn’t seem to return. Or, at least it’s not expressed.
In one sense, that’s OK. In another, it can be discouraging.
There was a point in Jon Acuff’s life that he and a friend had breakfast once a month. They called it the bragging table. They got to brag to each other without feeling competitive.
I agree with the fact that leaders are often seen as constant givers. How do we fill our buckets? Showing appreciation needs to be team-wide no matter what your role in the team is. Otherwise, we can feel unappreciated as well. It is a simple balance act that is hard to practice.
Its a tough world to live in for sure. Apreciation can be simple as you mentioned a “pat on the back” , “good job joe”, Pizza’s coming for the crew that did the ABC job, small rewards will pay back with voulumes. Remeber when you start these rewards they become expected. so careful how you decide to rewards them.
We have a regular agenda item at the start of our monthly team meeting called “Spontaneous Recognition & Thanks”. It is a time for all team members to recognize or thank other team members for their work/help. It is my favorite part of the meeting!
#2 was my nemesis as a young leader. I have always been an internally-motivated person. I never had much need for feedback from my superiors to tell me when I was doing a good job. This made it “un-natural” for me to give feedback until I learned that not everybody was like me and really needed the proverbial pat on the back. I worked hard at learning how to show appreciation and especially how different individuals responded to different expressions of appreciation. Consistently showing appreciation sure made my job much easier and my teams much more happy and productive. Also, giving recognition as soon as practicable after the commendable behavior has more value than only giving annual awards, etc.