Cindy Stynchula's Blog

When you Google ‘employee motivation’ you get more than 1,080,000 hits.  I searched the first 50 or so… and found that one of the most mentioned elements of  employee motivation is recognition for a job well done.

Dig deeper.  What kind of recognition? 

The no cost, easy to deliver kind of recognition - Praise for a job well done.

What can you do to make sure you praise your employees for a job well done?

1.  Catch people doing something praiseworthy.  I am an encourager by nature.  What this means is that I praise everyone for almost anything… and that ultimately was a demotivator, because when something was truly praiseworthy it got lost in the noise of the praise for something that wasn’t.

So look for performance or behavior that exceeds your expectations or surprises you.  To me, this makes something praise worthy.

2.  Praise specifically.  Be sure your praise describes what they did that was exceptional.  “Thanks for taking care of that customer” doesn’t tell me what behavior you want me to do again and again; however, “When you went the extra mile to resolve a second problem in addition to the one the customer initially called about, you displayed our value of  ’service beyond expectation’, making us all look good” is specific praise

..and notice how the latter praise stated how the behavior aligned with the organization’s values and how the behavior impacted the rest of the organization.  That is praise that motivates employees to do the same thing again and again!

2. Praise in a way that is meaningful to the individual.  Some people like to be praised in a private conversation, some in front of a big group and others prefer to receive their praise in writing.  How can you tell how each of your employees want to be praised?  Ask them.

4.  Increase the frequency of your praising.  This may seem to be counterintuitive to the first rule of making sure what you praise is praiseworthy.  However, all the research I have read says at least 50% of employees feel under-recognized.  So, increasing the frequency of praising may be as simply as being more aware of the need to praise. 

Here are some things you can to increase how often you praise.

• Put four or five coins in one pocket.  Each time you praise someone for a praiseworthy action, move once coin to the other pocket.  The goal is to move all coins to the ‘been praised’ pocket by the end of the day.
• Keep a list of all your employee names on your desk.  As each is praised, put a tick mark next to his or her name.  Not only will this help you praise more often, it may also point out individual performance trends that you hadn’t noticed before.

5.  Be creative with your praise.  This may be in how you deliver praise, or to whom you offer it.

• If the whole group has done something praiseworthy – like worked overtime to respond to a crisis - be the first to arrive at the office in the morning and tape a note of praise (and you might include a gift card, or movie ticket in it) to the bottom of each of their chairs.  At some point during the day, send your team an email and ask them to look under their chair.  
• Consider praising people from other departments or divisions who have done something outstanding.  Send an email to his/her boss and copy them on it. 
• Walk over to their another department to thank them personally and shake their hands.  Praise outside department or division lines!
• Remember to praise your boss and peers.  They are people too, who need recognition for praiseworthy work and behavior.

There is an old business joke that goes something like this:

How can you tell that someone needs encouragement (praise)?

They are BREATHING!

A little bit of praise costs nothing… and is one of the best ways a leader can meet any employee’s need for recognition.  Go forth and praise!