Appreciation From a Management Perspective: Exploring the Complexity of Managers Communication Responsibility Through a Diary Study

Perceiving appreciation at work has positive individual and organizational outcomes. Managers in particular are attributed with responsibility to communicate appreciation to employees and to support cultivating an appreciative working environment. This study aims to provide an in-depth analysis of managers’ communication responsibility based on qualitative diaries conducted in five European countries in 2025. The empirical material offers insights into structural challenges, emphasizes specific critical aspects in communicating appreciation, and explains why managers themselves often feel not appreciated at work (and lack in the appreciation of others). The present study contributes to leadership discourses by offering sensitive insights that enable a reflective debate about formally assigned and intrinsically acknowledged communication responsibility in an organizational context. The chosen design does not allow generalizability; the data is limited to the perspective of managers from big organizations (<250 employees) in Europe.