How Full is Your Bucket?

What is the number one reason most people leave their jobs? “They don’t feel appreciated,” says Tom Rath, coauthor of the national bestseller How Full Is Your Bucket? The book is based on research by the Gallup Organization that includes survey data from more than 4 million employees in more than 10,000 business units and more than 30 industries.

The research reveals how even the briefest interactions affect our relationships, productivity, health, and longevity. Organized around a simple metaphor of a dipper and a bucket, the author shows us how to greatly increase the positive moments in our work and our life -- while reducing the negative. “Each of us has a bucket,” says Rath. “It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it’s empty, we feel awful.

“Each of us also has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people’s buckets¾by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions¾we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others’ buckets -- by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions -- we diminish ourselves.”

All of this can have a significant impact on employees. It can also affect the company’s bottom line. Here’s why. Companies that have begun offering recognition and praise report:

- Increased individual productivity
- Better safety records/fewer accidents on the job
- Employees stay with the organization longer
- Higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers

Like the cup that runneth over, a full bucket gives us a positive outlook and renewed energy. Every drop in that bucket makes us stronger and more optimistic. But an empty bucket poisons our outlook, saps our energy, and undermines our will. That's why every time someone dips from our bucket, it hurts us.

So we face a choice every moment of every day: We can fill one another’s buckets, or we can dip from them. It’s an important choice¾one that profoundly influences our relationships, productivity, health, and happiness.