What are Love Languages and How Can They Help the Workplace

Written By Lena Obernesser

The book we will be discussing today is The Five Love Languages by author Gary Chapman published in 1992, he has since adapted the same book to be used in the workplace and that book was published in and titled: The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations.

Communication is such a critical thing when it comes to the workplace, whether you are remote, hybrid or in office five days a week. Understanding how you can best communicate with your coworkers and leadership team and ensure that they feel heard will do wonders for your team’s relationship and productivity. To quote Allaya Cooks-Campbell “effective workplace communication helps drive better results for individuals, teams, and organizations.” (Cooks-Campbell, 2022).

The love languages and how they can be applied to the workplace are listed below.

• Words of Affirmation: Using words to offer words of support and encouragement
• Acts of Service: Meaning that actions speak louder than words
• Receiving Gifts: Little tokens given to show people that they are appreciated
• Quality Time: Giving your employee undivided attention when you are meeting
• -Physical Touch (Appropriate Touch)- Pat on the back

Although there is not a one size fits all approach the main takeaway from the book is that everyone has a different communication style and in order to have a productive team it is best if leaders are able to understand and react to their employees “love language”.  The link in the bottom of this article will help you figure out your love language and the book will help you better understand the different love languages and how best to communicate with your co-workers, friends, and

family! If you feel as though this is something that could be used in your workplace a good way to bring it up to your boss is by suggesting the book to them as well as providing them the link below. In addition if a manager read this book they could go about implementing these ways of thinking into the workplace and seeing the changes that tuning in to their employees love language can affect their productivity in the workplace.

Happy reading!

Find your Workplace Love Language Link:  https://5lovelanguages.com/start/workplace

Sources:

Cooks-Campbell (2022) Why Communication is Key to the Workplace. https://www.betterup.com/blog/why-communication-is-key-to-workplace-and-how-to-improve-skills#:~:text=Communication%20in%20the%20workplace%20is,individuals%2C%20teams%2C%20and%20organizations.

Chapman, G. (1992) The Five Love Languages.

Chapman, G. (2007) The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace: Empowering Organizations.