Odds are, at some point in your life, you’ve wanted to spend time with your loved ones. Since our days as cavemen, socialization has been a core trait of humanity. The same is true for workers whose love language is quality time. For these employees, the need to be around others is often greater than most.
In part four of our love language series, we will explore the quality time love language at work. We’ll look at how employees with this love language feel appreciated, and the role communication plays in elevating workplace recognition.
The Five Love Languages: An Overview
So far, in our blog series based on Dr. Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages, we’ve covered three out of the five love languages at work. We will explore the love language of quality time in this article. But, first, let’s quickly recap all five love languages:
- Words of Affirmation: People who identify with this love language feel loved when they receive recognition in the form of praise or verbal acknowledgment.
- Acts of Service: When a person feels appreciation through the act of someone doing something for them, this is their primary love language.
- Receiving Gifts: This love language is when someone feels appreciated by receiving a gift.
- Physical Touch: This is an individual’s primary love language when they feel love simply by being physically close to family and friends.
- Quality Time: A person whose love language is quality time feels appreciated when they have someone’s undivided attention.
Now, we’ll discuss how to use the power of communication between managers and employees to create more opportunities for quality time. We will also talk about ways to encourage communication in the workplace to promote a more positive company culture.
Quality Time in the Workplace
Quality time is an opportunity spent giving one person your undivided attention. However, as a manager, the thought of giving one employee your undivided attention can be challenging. After all, you spend your days navigating multiple employee schedules, handling strategic initiatives, and your workload. But, when managers carve out one-on-one time with their employees, they communicate that they value them and their role in the workplace.
Listening to your team empowers them to provide input and contribute to decision-making within the company. Therefore, when you communicate with an employee, a wonderful thing happens: they become more committed to their jobs, more loyal to the company, and more conscientious of the impact they have in your workplace culture.
Effective communication in the workplace is contagious. Engaging with staff regularly and making employees feel like an essential part of the company is time well spent, and the result will echo throughout the organization.
The Power of Communication
The cornerstone of any successful business is communication. According to research by Gartner, 70% of business mistakes are due to poor communication. Without good communication, managers don’t set expectations, employees miss projects deadlines, and goals aren’t accomplished. So something as simple as talking to one another can significantly impact an organization’s success.
Effective communication starts with the working relationship between managers and employees. Employees learn how to treat each other based on the examples set by their managers. Here are a few more reasons why open communication in the workplace is so important:
- It avoids confusion
- It provides purpose
- It builds a positive company culture
- It creates accountability
Communication between employees and managers provides much-needed face time that boosts engagement. As a result, employees are more satisfied and productive, positively impacting businesses. Effective communication also supports a fundamental aspect of all successful businesses: treat your workforce as humans first and employees second.
Streamline Workforce Communication
How to Encourage Open Communication Between Managers and Employees
With a larger remote workforce, the importance of communication between managers and employees is even more significant. Quality time love language in the workplace is an essential tool to bolster employee engagement and collaboration among team members.
Offering this type of quality time at work is a way to make sure your workers get heard. It also reminds them that what they think matters. Therefore, employees feel more appreciated and are more likely to stay with the company.
Let’s look at some ways to encourage communication between employees and managers:
Give Them Voices
The best way to encourage workplace communication with employees and managers is by providing tools for effective communication. Technology platforms like Slack, Zoom, and Monday.com offer several ways for your workforce to communicate no matter where they are.
Give employees an internal voice by inviting them to contribute beyond their everyday tasks. For example, encourage your staff to vote on an employee of the month or appreciation award recipients to feel they play a more significant role in the organization. These opportunities are also helpful if your employees’ primary love language is quality time.
You can take this further by asking employees to offer feedback on company policies. Being proactive in seeking their feedback lets employees know their ideas, perspectives, and personal experiences are valued. These kinds of activities also promote open communication between employees and senior management.
Find the Fun
Effective communication between managers and employees can also create engagement opportunities in an organization. Many companies have established employee advocacy programs that provide a fun way to create an engaging work atmosphere. Challenge your staff to complete tasks and reward them with a small token for their participation. Create a process for employees to earn and redeem points for items like company swag or even a paid day off.
When the lines of communication are consistently open, employees are more likely to be natural advocates for their employers. Employee advocacy programs are beneficial for employers because your staff’s efforts create more brand awareness, help attract new hires, and generate new clients. Employees who sing their companies’ praises promote your brand at no additional cost. Now, that’s an invaluable asset.
Recognize Their Excellence
In a recent study, employees stated that personal recognition was the top way a manager or company could get them to produce great work. Create additional opportunities for quality time by recognizing their excellence. Celebrate your staff’s achievements using recognition platforms or technologies, like a company newsletter or Slack. This recognition can come from managers, colleagues, or even customers.
Taking the time to communicate with employees when they have achieved goals shows them appreciation in the workplace. Whichever way you acknowledge your employees, the important thing is to ensure they know their efforts don’t go unnoticed and their hard work is appreciated.
Elevate Their Everyday Treatment
Good communication between managers and employees creates an environment where your staff gets treated with respect and equality. To promote this kind of environment, you’ll need to provide your workforce with the necessary tools to communicate regularly with their supervisors and colleagues. These tools ensure you meet employee quality time needs. They also help with the following:
- Career development opportunities
- Better team collaboration on projects
- One-on-one meetings for updates and open discussions
- Fostering more positive workplace relationships
- Conflict-resolution training
Organizations that prioritize an open-door policy of communication will see increased productivity, morale, and retention.
Prioritize Communication Between Managers and Employees
Your organization can master the quality time love language at work by giving your employees and managers the tools to communicate effectively. Prioritize communication between managers and employees to foster growth and success. By cultivating your staff’s communications skills, you’re giving your business a competitive advantage.
To read more about the love languages and how to incorporate them into the workplace, check out our other articles:
- Physical Touch: We discuss appropriate methods to incorporate physical touch to promote a positive workplace culture without employees feeling uncomfortable.
- Receiving Gifts: The act of recognizing employees through compensation, whether through incentivized bonuses or PTO packages, can show employees appreciation in the workplace.
- Acts of Service: Providing benefits to employees can motivate your workforce and show employees the value they provide to your organization.
- Words of Affirmation: Learn how performance reviews can boost employees’ confidence and improve their work performance.
