Praise: The Ultimate Management Gift
“Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free - and worth a fortune.” - Sam Walton
Sam definitely knew what he was talking about when he said this a lifetime ago. I was talking to one of my non-management friends, and she was wondering why more people don’t share praise more?
GREAT question, so I thought I’d ask you, the smart managers and managers-in-training: Why don’t people share praise more?
BETTER question: Why don’t YOU share praise more, especially if you know the impact?
I have lots of excuses for why I don’t, but this week, I’m going to invest 5 cents in my team and let them know specifically how much I appreciate all they do for me, for our customers, and for our team.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: feedback, management by quotation
6 opinions for Praise: The Ultimate Management Gift
michael cardus
Nov 20, 2008 at 5:03 am
Why don’t people share praise more?
Because the idea of praise is viewed as something that HR is supposed to do.
Managers are there to keep the ducks in line and the sheeple clocking in on time, returning from their breaks on time, and working the required overtime without griping.
I have attended manager training and the idea of praise is a 20 minute-power point slide.
What I lead is leadership development. Leaders inspire motivation and praise. As a culture we often lead a “why thank them for doing what they are supposed to be doing, this is their job I am not going to thank them for doing their job!”
Well if you do not team members will find someone who can.
Praise is seen as something that weak managers do.
I am a fan of praise - although I am also a fan of hoonest feedback for performance.
Greg
Nov 20, 2008 at 7:04 am
From a management meeting I attended:
Everybody write down the percentage of time your employees do things right.
Everybody write the the ratio of your praise to criticism of your employees.
Mary Jo
Nov 20, 2008 at 9:25 am
I think praise can make people awkward, sort of like when someone thanks you. We tend to dismiss it with the, ah it’s nothing approach.
I think learning to give and receive praise are valuable skills to learn.
Tish Berge
Nov 21, 2008 at 10:38 am
I am a big fan os specific and timely praise as a form of positive feedback for professional growth.
It is disheartening, but understandable, that some see praise at what weak managers do.
My boss has shared his concern that giving praise is a form of telling someone they are done trying and that delivering praise will cause the other person to stop trying harder. I do not agree with this as I see praise to be a motivating, not demotivating, factor in employee performance.
Darth Sidious
Nov 21, 2008 at 11:25 am
The one thing I’ve found about you feeble human beings of Earth is that you tend to cherish rarity, and take things in abundance for granted.
So… if you praise alot, and are sincere about it, it becomes routine to people. They expect it, it doesn’t mean much to them, and now you’ve lost a valuable tool in your management toolset.
You totally have to throttle your praise, save it up, make it count.
At the same time, you have to personalize your management approach per individual, because everyone is different.
So for example I have a couple of Imperial Guards that report directly to me, and they love praise. The eat it up, and its free, keeps them motivated…so in that case I dole out the praise more frequently.
But for many others, I do it in calculated doses.
DanGTD
Nov 28, 2008 at 1:27 am
“Give people a reputation to live up to”
- Dale Carnegie
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: