The Happiness Index

CHAPTER 7Feelings of Acknowledgment

In The Happiness Index dataset, acknowledgment is the area with the widest range of responses. What this means is that not only is acknowledgment incredibly important, but the way people want to be acknowledged varies greatly from person to person.

One of your team may really appreciate being acknowledged at the all‐company meeting, but for another employee this type of acknowledgment may be their worst nightmare and could cause embarrassment.

I made this mistake personally when I gave one of our senior engineers a shoutout for great work on the upgrade of our employee engagement and happiness platform in the all‐company meeting. My intention was to say thank you, but I got it wrong. I accidentally put someone in a situation that made them feel uncomfortable. Instead, I should have taken that person for a quiet coffee and said thank you privately.

We are all learning all the time. I try to turn my mistakes into learning opportunities. Once again, knowing your team and what makes them tick is key.

What Are Feelings of Acknowledgment?

Acknowledgment is a feeling of emotional validation of who we are and what we are experiencing—the feeling of being heard. It is one of the most important human needs. We see organizations regularly falling short in this area.

Acknowledgment is the joint lowest‐scoring theme (7.2). This indicates that employees ...