Showing adequate appreciation for doing a great job is an exception in many companies. Gallup polling has discovered that 65% of employees haven’t received any form of recognition for a job well done in the last year. How could this be? You would think that number would be much lower with all the information at our disposal pertaining to the benefits of positive recognition. Gallup also found that 82% of employees felt it is better to receive praise than a gift. Just goes to show you the power of our spoken words, especially when it’s delivered the right way, at the right time, for the right reason. 

The key attributes to job satisfaction are:  

• Working Conditions
• Work Relationships
• Compensation and Benefits
• Employee Recognition

My focus in this post is employee recognition via appreciation. If you find you fall into the category of holding back when it comes to expressing appreciation, you are not alone. At Globalstar, we counter this with a culture that encourages transparency—where we freely and openly express gratitude and appreciation for the effort it takes to do a good job, and that is a multi-directional experience where all parties are recognized. 

Back when I was President of S3G, the company prior to Globalstar, we had two hundred employees, one hundred and fifty of which were consultants. What dawned on me was that people at the top naturally enjoyed more recognition, good and bad. It was like a fraternity where the privileged few get all the credit, all the time. When I took a step back and thought about the message that sent to the rest of the organization, I decided to make a change. From that point on, we pushed most of the recognition and appreciation out to the people who were foot soldiering the work. This wasn’t something that took a long time to implement. It was an immediate action that had astounding results. In fact, we were able to see an instantaneous cultural shift. 

People began taking pride and ownership in their work like never before. There was a collective shift in the consciousness of the overall company, and an energy shift from doing what was required as part of the job, to one of shared excellence. I remember weekends where I would drop by the office and 15-20 consultants would be collaboratively working their projects together. Simply put, appreciation create.

Whenever I interview someone who is dissatisfied with their current situation, I typically hear a level of sameness as to why they are disillusioned. Oftentimes, it’s because of empty promises, lack of having a voice within the organization, being overworked, under-stimulated, and politics. Whenever I hear these things, one common theme stands out that I believe these interviewees are feeling, lack of appreciation. It’s been my experience that people want to feel seen, heard, recognized, and appreciated. Voltaire once said, “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” 

At GlobalStar, such attributes are not only important, but essential to who we are. And as the old saying goes, “who you are as an organization speaks so loud, I can’t hear what you are saying.” The thing is, you can shower people with word salads that are articulated in the most impressive ways, but they know better. It all comes down to the simplicity of how your words line up with your actions. It’s the integrity of the experience or lack thereof. 

To make showing ample appreciation part of your organization, leadership needs a high level of humility and awareness, and to sincerely care about the well-being of those they represent. Leaders need to be 100 percent committed to doing the right thing by those they serve, all the time. This starts with transparency, open dialogue, and being impeccable with your words. Also, it’s hard to show appreciation, if you don't know anything about your people. This takes an investment of time, but it’s well worth it. Leaders need to create an environment that is conducive to shared ideas where people feel they are listened to and acknowledged.