Appreciation is a two-way gift

Why appreciation is a two-way gift

Have you seen the smile on a child’s face when you appreciate him or her? It’s the most amazing thing that can lift your spirits even on the dreariest day. A couple of days ago, my niece made a greeting card. There she sat, on the floor, surrounded by all sorts of paper and colours. After some concentrated effort, there was a beautiful card. When I told her how lovely it was, she gave me the most amazing smile.

Now, think of the last time you received a compliment. How did you feel? It is indisputably a wonderful feeling. Appreciation can do wonders for the soul. Of course, I mean genuine appreciation or praise, not flattery. I think most of us are capable of telling the genuine from the fake.

The thing is, very few of us actually make the effort to acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of others. If we are one of those who hold back appreciation, this is a good time to start practising this good habit. And home is a great place to begin, if we want to replicate this behaviour at work.

We often take a family member for granted. When a spouse or parent does something for us, we don’t thank them or say how that was something nice they did. As far as we’re concerned, that’s just something they owe us; or a given. This is something I learnt from my late father-in-law. He always said “thank you” when a family member brought him something or did something for him.

Be it a family member or a colleague, their hard work and talent is always worthy of praise. It’s a great way to bond, establish trust and form teams as well. Appreciation is one of those heartfelt tools that can be used anytime to reach another individual.

In organisations, there are formal mechanisms to appreciate or reward a colleague. These could be gift certificates, rewards, and so on. Usually, a senior colleague has access to such mechanisms. But that doesn’t mean a younger or a junior employee cannot appreciate a colleague. A thoughtfully composed email will have just the same effect on the person appreciated. Rather than putting in clichéd or easy words like, “Great job!” or “Wonderful!” or “Way to go!”, it would be good to take the time to write a full sentence, highlighting a quality of the colleague. For instance:

“Hi X,