Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, said, “There are two things people want more than sex and money…recognition and praise.” Time and time again the one motivating factor that production and is at the top of most employee lists is appreciation for a job well done. It is requested more than the green stuff, money. Particularly for lower paid employees.
Why don’t more owners, managers and employees give appreciation? Some people state they don’t know how to give it. Others say they don’t know what to give. Still others say they are too busy to give or show appreciation.
This is one of the biggest sins of owners, being too busy to give appreciation for a good job well done. Remember what the old oil filter commercials used to say, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Well, that is what giving appreciation is about. You can invest in your employees now and “pay” them with sincere appreciation and achieve even better performance. Or you will “pay” later when you see your team’s performance sink, overall morale decrease, and costly team turnover.
The following are five tips to giving sincere appreciate that will motivate your team to soar to higher levels and achieve more:
1. Be Specific
In order to get the same behavior or action again you need to let the employee know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating. For example, the typical attempt at appreciate sounds like this:
Owner: “Bob, you did a great job earlier today. Keep up the good work!”
Bob: “Thanks” (Bob is thinking what is he complimenting me on?)
The correct way:
Owner: “Bob you did a great job on the report earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time on the report by the detail you put in it. I really appreciate you effort. Thank you.”
Bob: “I appreciate you noticed the time a put into the report . Thanks!” (Bob is thinking that the owner really did read it and appreciates his effort. I will be glad to do it again.)
As you can see the employee has a clear understanding of what action the owner is showing appreciated for and he is motivated to take on the project again.
2. Be Timely
Make sure you show appreciation as soon as possible to the action you appreciate. The further the distant in time between the appreciation and the action the less impact it will have to motivate the employee.
Owner: Bob, the report you submitted six month ago was great. Keep up the good work. Thanks!”
Bob: “Thanks, I think. What report are you taking about?”
Always find time to show appreciate in a timely manner. Even if you need to drop something else take time to appreciate your employees.
3. Be Fair
One of the key concerns of team members is that when appreciation is shown, it doesn’t seem fair. The biggest culprit of this is the dreaded “Employee of the Month” board. Many times when you ask the “Employee of the Month” what did you do to earn it they say, “I don’t know.” I have one action you must take when giving appreciation…be consistent!
- First, clearly state the rules for appreciation so that everyone understands how appreciate is earned.
- Second, be consistent when showing appreciation. If one employee does a favorable action and you show appreciation and another employee does the same or similar action and you don’t show appreciation you have just sewn the seeds of bad morale and feelings of favoritism.
- Third, always try to catch your employees “doing something right”, rather than “doing something wrong.” Once you achieve this mindset you will always find the good and increase morale and productivity within your team and organization.
- Fourth, be pure in your appreciation. If you to show appreciation, don’t muddle it with other communication. In other words, don’t s how appreciation for one action and then start discussing a potential corrective action for another action. Avoid the word BUT! “You did a fantastic job this morning, (wait for it…. here it comes…) BUT….. This sends mixed signals that say to the receiver of this communication, “I don’t want any appreciation because there is always something bad attached to it.” Keep it pure!
4. Be Public, if Possible
Appreciation is not something you hide. It works best when done publicly. Show you appreciation in a public way in meetings, in front of team members, and management. The funny thing is that once you get in the habit of doing this many of your team members will increase the activity they need to take to also earn this public appreciation. Always appreciate in public, and discipline in private.
5. Be Relational
When I ask team members, “Why do you come to work everyday?,” I usually get “to get paid” as the first ans wer. Then as we discuss it further it always comes down to “I feel like I make a difference” as the main answer.
You see, in most cases the reason why employees decide to climb out of bed in the morning, their toes touch the floor, and they decide to drive to work is that they feel that they make a difference where they work.
Relate the action done with how if affects the team, department and organization. Let’s go back to our earlier examples to complete the appreciate process:
Owner: “Bob you did a great job on the report for the new employee recognition system earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time to do the research so that we have the necessary information to request the employee recognition system. Bob, we appreciate your efforts because the new employee recognition system will make our team more productive so that the department will achieve its goals and the company will be profitable this year. Bottom line, bigger bonuses for everyone. I look forward to seeing your high level of work in the future. Thank you.”
Bob: “Thanks. I appreciate making a difference. Please let me know whatever I can do to help the team.”
As you can see, Bob has a clear sense of achievement and where he fits in the company. Also, the owner encouraged Bob to do the same behavior soon by saying “I look forward to seeing your high level of work in the future.” And the owner ended with a sincere “thank you.”
These are five simple tips that will motivate your employees to achieve more with a minimum amount of efforts. Starting today, apply these techniques and you will see a world of difference in your team, department, and organization. Remember, “pay” yourself with the rewards now or “pay” yourself with a low performing team later.
To learn more about building a winning team in your organization and how South Florida Business Coaching will work for you, contact John Layzell at johnlayzell@actioncoach.com or 305-899-9963.
John Layzell
South Florida Business Coaching
