Appreciation in the workplace

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“In Dutch corporate culture, it is not so common to express appreciation. It is more like if you do not hear anything, you can assume that things are going well,” says Otteline Asselbergs of Young People Coaching. “Or the culture is such that appreciation is rarely explicitly expressed: positive feedback, for example, only ends up in the forms during assessment interviews.” The lesson for daily practice is clear: if you want to be sure that you receive appreciation, speak up. And ask for positive feedback if you are unsure whether you are doing well.


2. Don't overdo it
Receiving compliments is nice. Making someone happy with a sincere expression of appreciation will also leave you with a good feeling. It is no wonder that over 80 percent of participants in the National Appreciation Survey would rather receive a compliment than a gift from their partner. Almost half of Dutch employees (46%) indicate that they would rather receive an explicit appreciation than a financial reward.

But complimenting can also get out of hand. Happiness professor Ruut Veenhoven: “Social support telegram data generally makes life more fun, including by increasing self-esteem. But as with everything, you can also get too much of a good thing. For example, if you are complimented when you do something wrong, you do not learn from mistakes. The gain from higher self-esteem is then lost to a loss due to stupidity. And that in the long run also detracts from self-esteem. And that certainly does not make us happy.”

3. Make it genuine and personal
The most important thing is to make sure that a compliment is sincere and personal, says Hans Poortvliet of the National Compliment Day. “The crux of sincere appreciation is in the attention you show and the way you express it. The channel you use to communicate is ultimately not that important.”

According to Poortvliet, a sincere and personal message can certainly be conveyed via social media. “A personalized message to wish a Facebook friend a happy birthday makes a much bigger impression than a standard congratulation: you show that you really paid attention. And we know from all kinds of research that appreciation in which you have invested measurably more time has more effect.”

How do you deal with compliments, offline and online?