Differences in preferences for appreciation across various work settings

White, P.R.

doi:10.1108/shr-11-2022-0061

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The distribution of the primary languages of appreciation as determined by the MBA Inventory for this group was compared with the incidence rate across the general population (White, 2023b). As can be seen in Table 1, although the relative frequencies of each appreciation language in this group are slightly different than the distribution found in the general population, the overall pattern is similar.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The accuracy of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory: a construct validity study

White¹

2023

SHR

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the question: Does the Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory accurately identify the ways that individuals prefer to be shown appreciation by their colleagues at work? Design/methodology/approach Over 400 remote employees responded to an online questionnaire, answering an open-ended question regarding how they liked to be shown appreciation by colleagues. Their answers were coded according to the four languages of appreciation assessed by the MBA Inventory, and then a pairwise comparison was completed with their primary language of appreciation as identified by the MBA Inventory. Findings In total, 80% of the participants’ responses matched their preferred appreciation language from specific actions given with their primary language of appreciation on the MBA Inventory. A chi-square analysis was found to be highly statistically significant (p < 0.001) and the Cramer V effect size (0.61) indicated a strong relationship between the observed and expected number of matches. As a result, the MBA Inventory was found to be highly accurate in identifying individuals’ preferred appreciation language when comparing their primary language of appreciation to specific actions they identified as meaningful to them. Research limitations/implications Participants were remote employees, with a majority being 40 years old or older. Therefore, caution should be taken in generalizing these results to other populations. Practical implications HR practitioners can use the MBA Inventory with a reasonable amount of confidence that the results are accurate. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, no other research exploring the validity of an online assessment of appreciation is known.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The accuracy of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory: a construct validity study

White¹

2023

SHR

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“…Research (White, 2017) has shown that not everyone feels appreciated in the same ways and that differences in preferences occur across age groups (White, 2018; White and George, 2022) and occupational settings (White, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The internal consistency of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory

White¹

2023

SHR

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Purpose The Motivating By Appreciation (MBA) Inventory is an online assessment that identifies employees’ preferred ways of receiving appreciation from their colleagues, including their primary language of appreciation. This study aims to examine the internal consistency of the MBA Inventory by analyzing the results of over 114,000 employees. Given that the data are categorical, the coefficient alpha τ, a nonparametric measure of internal consistency, was used. The results found the internal consistency for identifying employees’ primary language of appreciation to be at an acceptable level. Design/methodology/approach Results of 114,828 individuals who had taken the MBA Inventory were analyzed. The results of the MBA Inventory are nominal data (the languages of appreciation: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Tangible Gifts); therefore, the commonly used Pearson’s correlation coefficient is not appropriate. Alternatively, a nonparametric measure of internal consistency, Cronbach’s coefficient alpha τ, was used for the analysis to determine the consistency of the items for each appreciation language in identifying employees’ primary language of appreciation. Findings While, for the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, correlations of 0.70 or higher are considered acceptable, acceptable coefficient alpha τ correlations range from 0.20 to 0.40. The results of this analysis found the MBA Inventory to have acceptable internal consistency, with a coefficient alpha τ of 0.32. That is, the ability of the assessment items to identify an individual’s preferred appreciation language is significantly more accurate than if the individual had responded randomly. Research limitations/implications Even though the MBA Inventory is available in eight languages and has been used globally, the vast majority (>90%) of individuals taking the inventory are primarily English-speaking and located in the USA. Thus, the generalizability of the results is limited for other cultures and languages. Originality/value The MBA Inventory has been used by thousands of companies and organizations, and taken by over 350,000 employees, but the psychometric properties of the inventory are still being examined. This study helps solidify one aspect (the internal consistency) of the inventory’s ability to accurately assess the ways employees prefer to be shown appreciation.

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“…Studies have demonstrated that individuals prefer to be shown appreciation in various ways (White, 2017). Additionally, differences in preferences occur across age groups (White, 2018a(White, , 2018bWhite and George, 2022), occupational settings (White, 2023a) and whether the employees work primarily remotely or onsite (White, 2021).…”

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How appreciation preferences compare across employees who speak different languages

White

2024

SHR

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Purpose Research has demonstrated that employees desire to be shown appreciation in various ways. The five languages of appreciation provide a model for exploring these differences. This study aims to explore whether individuals who speak different languages (and are from various cultures) differ in how they prefer to be shown appreciation. Design/methodology/approach The Motivating By Appreciation Inventory (MBAI) is an online tool that assesses each person’s preferences in how they desire to be shown appreciation at work. Initially developed in English, the MBAI has been translated into seven additional languages. Over 2,200 employees took the MBAI in their preferred spoken language: Mandarin (Chinese), Danish, French (Canadian), Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American), Thai and Turkish. The frequency of each group’s preferred appreciation languages was analyzed to determine similarities and differences across the languages spoken. Findings Given the non-normal distribution of the data, the Kruskal–Wallis test found that there was a significant difference in preferences for participants’ primary appreciation language across the seven groups of various spoken languages. One key theme was that words of affirmation were most frequently chosen by five of the seven language groups, whereas employees from Thailand and Turkey chose acts of service most frequently. Additionally, tangible gifts were the least frequently chosen appreciation language by all groups, and at rates below their US counterparts. In three of the languages, quality time was preferred significantly less compared with the other languages. Research limitations/implications Some of the groups’ findings (Portuguese, Thai) may be impacted by a confounding variable of the type of work setting (manufacturing) in which the employees worked – in comparison to office-based work settings. Practical implications One theme was, in comparison to other ways of receiving appreciation, tangible gifts are not highly valued by most employees across all language groups. Therefore, organizations using gifts as the primary way to communicate appreciation to employees may be wasting a lot of money. Similar to English-speaking employees, five of the seven language groups chose words as their preferred appreciation language. A wide range exists, however, across language groups with regards to the proportion who desire words, quality time or acts of service. Multicultural organizations should pay attention to employee preferences, lest they waste time and energy on undesired actions. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that has examined the preferences of how employees like to be shown appreciation across seven different language groups.

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Differences in preferences for appreciation across various work settings

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

The accuracy of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory: a construct validity study

The accuracy of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory: a construct validity study

The internal consistency of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory

How appreciation preferences compare across employees who speak different languages

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