Love Languages In The Workplace

I remember reading Gary Chapman's book, The Five Love Languages many years ago. The one thing I took with me and have sought to implement over the years (sometimes successfully and at other times dismally) is that each of us hears love, value and appreciation in our own particular way. If someone speaks to you in Chinese and you understand only English, there is little, if any chance, that you will have any clue as to what they are communicating. It makes sense therefore that if we are to communicate to someone, in order for them to understand us, it has to be in their language - one that they comprehend. Some people understand our value and appreciation of them verbally and others don't. The key here is taking the time to understand what the other person's particular language (or languages) are. Gary Chapman lists the following languages:

1. Gift Giving
2. Words of affirmation
3. Quality time
4. Acts of service
5. Physical touch

How do these play out in the expression of value and appreciation to those who work for you and with you? And note, I always advocate saying 'thank you' with each of these.

1. Gift Giving Simply put, these people appreciate the smallest of things. It might be a cup of coffee that you buy for them through to a holiday in the Bahama's for outstanding performance.
2. Words of affirmation The words 'thank you' are powerful words. As I posted in my blog a few weeks back, "Gratitude, particularly expressed in the two words thank you to all in our relational sphere, though taking but a second to express, can reverberate through the receivers psyche for a lifetime - making the journey all the more richer." This can be expressed both verbally and written.
3. Quality time This obviously is a tricky one for business owners and managers but it might mean instead of having coffee or lunch on your own, you take one of your people with you. You could include an employee in helping you accomplish a task. If you have a long drive to do or a flight to catch you take them with you. The key here is quality time whereby you are expressing interest in who they and how they are travelling.
4. Acts of Service Your manager's car broke down on the way to work...you make the call and arrange the towing service for him, paying for it in the process. An employee is struggling with his paperwork and you stay back and help him get up to date. One of the female team members expresses how her yard is overgrown and you organise some of the staff to head over on a Saturday morning for a working bee.
5. Physical Touch. Ahh... where angels fear to tread. This obviously is a tricky one and I'm not referring to the types of sexual touch that the media moguls are currently being called out for. From personal experience here, I have found that when some people talk they automatically touch me on the arm. This has proven to be a good indicator that one of their languages is touch. In turn, when I say thank you to them or express my gratitude for who they are or the work they do, I simply touch them on the arm in the process.

The place to start is to understand what your personal love language is and also those closest to you. Then, in the workplace, start observing and trying a few different languages as you express gratitude and value to your team. Some will hit the mark, others will miss and if all else fails, the fact that you are trying to express appreciation and saying those magical words 'thank you' will in themselves, move your workplace culture and team members engagement forward.