How preferences for types of appreciation differ across employee age groups

White, P.R.; George, Gene

doi:10.1108/shr-11-2021-0053

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Previous studies have also shown that the frequency of appreciation language preferences is essentially equivalent across gender (White, 2017), but that there are slight differences across age groups (White and George, 2022). Employees under the age of 30 prefer the language of Quality Time slightly more than their older colleagues, while older employees (60+ years old) valued Tangible Gifts less than their younger coworkers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Differences in preferences for appreciation across various work settings

White¹

2022

SHR

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Purpose Previous research has documented the distribution of preferences of various appreciation languages by employees in general work settings. This paper aims to explore if employee preferences for appreciation vary across different types of workplace settings. Design/methodology/approach The Motivating By Appreciation Inventory assesses individuals’ preferred ways of receiving appreciation from their workplace colleagues, determining each person’s primary language of appreciation in one of four appreciation languages. Results for 114,827 individuals were examined across the general workforce and in six work settings (government agencies, medical settings, military personnel, nonprofit organizations, remote employees and schools). Findings Preferences within four work settings (government, nonprofits, remote, schools) were consistent with those from general work settings. But employees in medical settings and in the military choose Acts of Service more frequently than other employees. Quality Time is more valued by school and remote employees. Tangible Gifts are chosen at lower rates by government employees and military personnel. Research limitations/implications The subjects are all English-speaking and predominately in the USA. The results may not be generalizable to other cultures and language speakers. Practical implications Human resource professionals should be aware that employees in different types of workplaces vary in their appreciation preferences. Adjusting appreciation programs and practices should mirror these differences. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this research is the first known to document differences in preferences for appreciation across various types of workplaces.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Differences in preferences for appreciation across various work settings

White¹

2022

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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confidence: 99%

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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How preferences for types of appreciation differ across employee age groups

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Differences in preferences for appreciation across various work settings

Differences in preferences for appreciation across various work settings

The internal consistency of the Motivating By Appreciation Inventory

How appreciation preferences compare across employees who speak different languages

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