This article in the Harvard Business Review "Practice Empathy as a Team" * clearly shows that appreciation, recognition is a very powerful tool in business. But, definitely, knowing it is not enough. The question is : How do you show your appreciation to your team? I would say it really depends on what's IMPORTANT to each employee and that's where the process is difficult ! There is not one recipe applicable for every one. Each person has a particular sensitive point that must be touched. A manager must therefore have learn to decode and to enter the world of the other, to know how to express the just recognition expected. To guide managers, I use different tools like: -the Enneagram, - or a card game where everyone tells their story with the same images, - or a game around emotions from a given situation, - or Sophrology exercises done in groups giving the opportunity to each one to express what happens for themselves during the exercises, - or I explain basics of Transactional Analysis for example. All the exercises done in workshops have objectives: Make Manager aware of their own reactions and emotions, listen to the others reactions and then realize that we are all different when facing a situation. It will lift up both individuals, building stronger communities, more trust, and helps employee feel cared for. So, when a manager want to congratulate, express empathy or gratify an employee, he/she must be conscious to whom it is addressed and be conscious that he/she can't say the exact same think and at the same frequency to each person of the team. Learning this is nowadays part of a Manager job
* https://hbr.org/2023/02/practice-empathy-as-a-team?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1608087-february-neuroscience-round-up-for&utm_source=lists%2F76291-Mindful-Leader-Weekly-Our-latest&simplero_object_id=su_x5E2etY3moNDZ8WJEyJfCXC5
The Sun Touch by Margot 