Staff Retention: The Power of Appreciation at Work

Too often, we take people for granted.  In this week’s Tuesday Reading “Staff Retention:  The Power of Appreciation at Work”, Mike Robbins quotes the U.S. Department of Labor as noting that 64% of Americans who leave their jobs say they do so because they don’t feel appreciated.  And, Gallup reports that 70% of people in the U.S. say they received no praise or recognition in the workplace.  

Robbins asks the question what if we stopped obsessing over what needs to be fixed, changed, or enhanced and started paying more attention to the good stuff.  To get you started, he states five principles:

1.  Be grateful.  Take inventory of the good stuff around you.

2.  Choose positive thoughts and feelings.  Personal thoughts and feelings impact our attitudes which impact our actions.

3.  Use positive words.

4.  Acknowledge others.  You empower people be letting them know what you appreciate about them.

5  Appreciate yourself.

Don’t operate in a “Praise Free Zone.”  Set a goal to talk about the good stuff, to say thank you, to acknowledge people’s good work publically.

.  .  .  .  .     jim