Each one of us has a primary appreciation language that speaks to our souls, that touches our being. The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Gifts, and Appropriate Touch.

This week’s focus is on quality time. If this is the language of appreciation of your employee or co-worker, the best way to show them they are appreciated is to spend quality time, time that is focused and intentional, not haphazard and random, with them.

Quality time with an employee can look like:

• Going out to lunch (one-on-one lunches are really only appropriate and healthy with an employee or co-worker who is of the same sex)

• A once-a-week scheduled meeting

• Daily conversations at their desk

• Small group meetings

Notice that all of these times involve giving the person your undivided attention. Does this need for quality time mean that the employees with this type of appreciation are overly needy because they will take up all your time? No, it does not. Some of us just need quality time with others in order to know that we are part of the team. And, as it turns out, research has shown that there is a magic number for the amount of time that managers should spend with their employees. That number is 6.

6 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

A study done by Leadership IQ revealed that as people rose from one to six hours spent with their direct leaders per week, they became 29% more inspired about their work, 30% more engaged (that is, likely to recommend their company as a great place to work), 16% more innovative, and 15% more intrinsically motivated (finding something interesting in most of their tasks). However, above six hours per week, all of these measures flattened out, or even declined.

Quality time is my number one appreciation language in the workplace. A few years back, I was helping grow a company in a new territory for them. For the first couple of years, I was alone in the territory except for about every 6 weeks when my boss came down. I asked him for a scheduled call for 1 minute every day so that I could stay in the loop and feel connected. He refused.

He would later come to mention to me that when we were together, I seemed energized and enthusiastic, but that, as time passed and he went back to HQ, he noticed that my attitude and actions had changed. I told him that I needed quality time with him every day in order to stay energized and enthusiastic. However, the situation remained the same.

Needless to say, I no longer work there.

The point is this: If your co-workers and employees need quality time with you in order to feel appreciated, give it to them and you will see incredible results.

If you don’t, you could lose good people.

Do you know the Language of Appreciation for each of your employees or co-workers? Go to www.AppreciationatWork.com and find out. You can also visit www.5lovelanguages.com to learn more.