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SIX STEPS FOR GIVING PRAISE OR
RECOGNITION
In general, people tend
to work well when they feel good about
what they are achieving. Sincere praise,
when appropriate, is the most effective
way of making people feel good about
themselves.
It is surprising how
infrequently people get praised at work.
In some organisations praise is so rare
that when it is given people become
suspicious.
You should attempt to
incorporate informal praise and thanks
into your routine management style
anyway, because:
1.
It is common courtesy and good manners.
2.
It makes people feel good about
themselves and their work.
3.
People who feel good about themselves
tend to work better.
4.
You get a benefit for no cost.
This section will enable
you to use a more formal process for
giving praise or recognition, as part of
the performance or behaviour change
process.
This structured praise is
far more powerful than the general day
to day praise that most managers say
they give.
You will need to use this
planned approach when:
1. The
employee has made a satisfactory
improvement after a counselling
interview.
2. An
employee has contributed more than
expected.
3. A
dependable employee deserves some form
of recognition.
Obviously you should use
your judgement about where to deliver
the praise. If you are using praise to
reinforce a change in performance or
behaviour, then it is probably best to
do this in private. If it is for
outstanding work or dependability, there
are benefits to be gained by other
people seeing it happening. This
sequence can also be used as the
structure for a public announcement of
an award.
You might feel that
giving praise in this highly structured
way makes you feel awkward; like a
wooden actor. That doesn’t matter. This
isn’t about how you feel; it’s about how
you make the other person feel.
The other thing that you
might feel is that the interaction is
very swift; maybe just a couple of
minutes. The step process is designed to
help you through any feelings of
awkwardness.
Bear in mind that once
each step has been completed, any more
discussion dilutes the force of the
process.
There are really only
five steps to giving praise/recognition,
but I’ve added a sixth just for
consistency.
1. Describe specifically
the achievement or improvement.
2. Explain the reasons
that this is important to you/the
group/the company.
3. Respond with empathy
to the person's reaction.
4. Give the appropriate
praise or recognition.
5. Sincerely thank the
person.
6. Go away.
1. Describe specifically
the achievement or improvement.
As with all these
interactions, the opening gambit is
designed to ensure that the other person
understands as quickly as possible why
this is happening. This is particularly
important if the person has had a
history of unpleasant interactions with
the manager.
The employee needs to
know exactly what it is that
he/she is being praised for.
Avoid vague phrases like
"You've made a lot of progress".
“Since our meeting last
month about filing your reports, I have
seen that you’ve cleared the backlog and
are up to date at the end of each day”
“In the past two weeks
you have been at work by 9.00 each day”
2. Explain the reasons
that this is important to you/the
group/the company.
This emphasises the value
of what the employee has done and makes
the praise more effective. Also it
places the employee's contribution
within the bigger picture, thus helping
to create a feeling of belonging, or
reducing the feeling of "My boss never
tells me what's going on".
“Keeping your paperwork
up to date helps me because I am able to
access the latest information when my
boss asks. It saves your team mates a
lot of time when they talk to clients;
and the group can present a more
professional image, which helps with
customer satisfaction and leads to more
sales”.
“Your starting at 9.00
means that I don’t have to worry about
providing cover. The rest of the team
are able to make a prompt start on their
own work; and any early customers know
they can talk to the right person”.
3. Respond with empathy
to the person's reaction.
People tend to react to
praise in one of three ways:
1. Total
surprise.
2. Modesty -
"Oh it was nothing really. Just doing my
job".
3. They try
to tell you how difficult the
achievement was.
Empathy is the
appropriate response in all cases.
1. "I can see
I've taken you by surprise, but I hope
you're as pleased as I am".
This stops you getting
into a pointless discussion about why
they shouldn’t really be surprised, or
how unusual it is for anybody to be
praised.
2. "Well I'm
glad you see your job in that way".
Modesty, or more likely
false modesty, is an attempt to milk the
situation for more praise. A well chosen
piece of empathy makes them feel good
but places a full stop on that part of
the interaction so that you can move on.
3. "Yes I
know you overcame a lot of problems".
If you have had progress
reviews you will know something about
the problems the person faced. The
problems may now be resolved and gone,
or they may still be lurking out there.
Do not
undermine the force of the praise by
analysing the problems or discussing any
negative issues. Book a later session if
need be.
“Yes, and I’m
pleased that you succeeded in spite of
them. I’ll be working on those issues
next Monday, and I’d value your input.”
4. Give the appropriate
praise or recognition.
This may be a simple
"Thank you", or, further recognition
such as a note in the file or
commendation.
If it is a simple “Thank
you”, then steps 4 and 5 roll into one.
If the recognition is more elaborate,
then state what you are doing:
“So I am awarding you
this certificate of merit...”
“I am putting a copy of
this note in your file”
Please!
Do not “reward” the person with an
additional task.
You may want to do this
as part of their overall development,
but do it later after the warm glow has
settled.
5. Sincerely thank the
person.
“So, thanks very much for
your efforts”.
THE END.
6. Go away.
If you have gone out to
the employee for this interaction, then
you just go back to your office.
A praise interaction is
quite short (2-3 minutes). It is best
given away from your office otherwise
the employee will feel "short-changed"
and try to extend the discussion. If
delivered at the employee's workplace,
you have a natural way to terminate the
interaction.
Because the
praise/recognition is usually a pleasant
experience, some people will try to
extend it. Remember that once you have
achieved your objective, any further
discussion will weaken its effect.
Plan ahead so that you
have some ready-made exit lines, e.g.
other appointments, urgent phone calls
etc.
Exercise:
Prepare
the details
(facts and phrases) for how you would
praise three types of employee:
1. The steady
dependable type.
2. The
improver.
3. The
over-achiever.
As you should do most of
the talking in this type of interaction,
you could try running through the whole
dialogue, including their likely
responses.
(This is going to sound
quite silly, and you will look daft, but
it works. Many people find it difficult
to practice a dialogue unless they have
someone or something to talk to. A lot
of people find that a glove puppet or
something similar does help. Please try
this somewhere private). |
