Dear Employer,
Do you know your employee's love language?
Several years ago, I read “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. In the book, the author highlights words of affirmation (compliments), quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch as simple and effective ways to strengthen your connections so that you can experience greater joy and harmony in ALL of your relationships whether at home or at work.
I decided to apply this to my business and relationships with team members. At the end of every year, I share a survey with the team, and one of the pertinent questions I always ask is, “What are your suggestions for improvement?” In my opinion, it's a more professional way to seek the feedback I want rather than asking them what their love language is. Responses I’ve received include active listening, autonomy, CSR, rewards, and appreciation, just to name a few.
Hey like every small business owner, I have my drawbacks and the intent of the end-of-year survey is to foster continuous improvement and staff retention.
Besides, I am certain I am not the only employer to hear this from my team.
The employee experience has become a topic of discussion among HR professionals and the workplace. I would therefore assume that knowing your employee's love language is a critical component to creating a fulfilling work environment where they are most likely to stay.
Based on the feedback from my team, I would assume their love language to be:
Words of affirmation as a means of encouragement and motivation
Gifts/rewards and incentives for a job well done or wellness
Acts of service for the employee looking to give back to the community
When giving compliments or praise be mindful of your choice of words and intentions.
Notice, I left out quality time and physical touch. Those are two very dicey languages you may want to steer away from at the workplace unless by physical touch you mean a handshake where you are not invading the employee's personal space or by quality time you are referring to a getaway or vacation to a remote location for your employee ALONE to enjoy him or herself, which will also be considered a reward.
inappropriate touching at the workplace can make one feel uncomfortable
The love language as you would interpret it with a loved one is significantly different from that with your staff. There are boundaries not to be crossed when dealing with employees. Know what those boundaries are.
This year and beyond, let’s be intentional about learning our team’s love language to boost productivity and enhance our employee’s experience.
So I ask again, do you know your employee's love language?
If you are looking for ideas and ways to enhance employee experience get in touch with our consultants at KUSI Consulting.
Give us a call at (+233) 554 081 727 or send us an email info@kusiconsulting.com.
Written by Rita Kusi
CEO and Snr. Consultant (Human Resources & Marketing)