Gary Chapman wrote a very famous book (that is now a series of books) called The Five Love Languages. His theory is that we express love and receive love based on one of the five "languages", which are acts of services, words of affirmation, physical touch, receiving gifts, and quality time. This theory of giving and receiving love became so popular that Chapman expanded his theory to cover appreciation in the workplace.

If you don't know your love language, you can visit https://5lovelanguages.com/. 

 In the workplace we can show appreciation in the following ways:
1. Acts of Service - offering to help a co-worker or leader with a project, helping to clean the shop or office without being told, or offering to run an errand.
2. Words of Affirmation - compliments on work done, compliments on personality, positive feedback
3. Physical Touch - high fives, fist bumps, hand shakes, hugs (when appropriate)
4. Receiving Gifts - giving time off, giving gift cards/certificates, raffles, bringing coffee and donuts for everyone, pizza party
5. Quality Time - one-on-one meetings between team members and leadership, company events and outings, allowing team members a way to give leadership feedback

Below:
​We encourage our team to learn soldering and reward them for their efforts with a certificate that we display at the shop. Peter and Seth (right) first bump to show their appreciation for each other.

We recently read a news article where a CEO was complaining that her profit-sharing program wasn't working in motivating her employees. On the contrary, it was creating a sense of entitlement and when they didn't receive the amount they thought was owed to them, they were discontent and resentful. This CEO also felt unappreciated because she alone shouldered the losses of the business, something her employees couldn't understand.

An alternative to profit sharing is to spread the profit around in the form of raises and better benefits. Over the years, as Bridgeview has grown, our team members have reaped the benefits of their hard work. We have a program of growth, where team members that really put in the effort to learn their job get rewarded with a promotion and a raise. We have so many opportunities for growth in our company and what a team member earns is really determined by how much work they're willing to put in. We don't give out raises just once a year. 

Do you use profit sharing to motivate your team?

Below:
Ben and Peter (left) work together to build a long assembly. Ben started working at Bridgeview a year ago and went from working only 6 hours a week to now working full-time. Seth (right) started out on our production floor as an assembler. and, almost two years later, he helps to run our inspection department.  

We're sure most of you are familiar with the Myers Briggs assessment many companies give their potential employees. There's also the Enneagram assessment and the Holland Code. We don't use personality assessments at Bridgeview. Instead, we focus on making sure our different personalities can communicate, which is why everyone who works for Bridgeview takes the DISC assessment.

There are four categories of communication according to DISC: Decisive, Interactive, Stabilizing, and Cautious. Depending on how a person answers the DISC questionnaire, they will be strong in one or more category. Knowing how a person communicates makes for an environment where we can be ourselves and still respect the communication style of others. 

Which assessment do you use at your company?

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