Pretty much the first thing I do on waking up is check my email. Not a healthy behaviour pattern I know, but it gives me a couple of minutes to come to terms with the world in the morning.
Had a pleasant one this morning from my sister (gone to seek fame and fortune in the UK). She was apparently named Employee of the Month for her company. Very cool for her and thoroughly deserved as I know she works a hell of a lot harder than me! It did however made me think about the value of praise to an employee.
EOTM is of course a very formalised process, but I'm even talking about praise at the most informal level. I had a Psychology major at uni, and while I remember little of it, I do know that there are volumes of literature on how people respond to positive feedback. The short explanation is that there are very few people who do not enjoy some form of recognition, whether it be private (simple congratulatory email) or public such as for my sister.
The surprising thing for me is that there are companies or managers who do not take advantage of this. It is such a simple thing for them to do, and additionally, if someone in your team is publicly recognised as having done a good job, then that must reflect positively on your performance as a leader...
I think I've been very lucky in terms of the managers I've worked under during my careers so far, but one in particular stands out for me here. While in my case particularly, the success might have been primarily due to his assistance, he was more than happy to publicly recognise my efforts and promote this to the wider team (or company). Given the importance of a strong team culture to any organisation, this has really stuck with me and is still the template to which I measure others.
In short, if managing others, praise may not appear much to you, but do not undervalue its impact on the recipient!
And congratulations Jess!!!
Had a pleasant one this morning from my sister (gone to seek fame and fortune in the UK). She was apparently named Employee of the Month for her company. Very cool for her and thoroughly deserved as I know she works a hell of a lot harder than me! It did however made me think about the value of praise to an employee.
EOTM is of course a very formalised process, but I'm even talking about praise at the most informal level. I had a Psychology major at uni, and while I remember little of it, I do know that there are volumes of literature on how people respond to positive feedback. The short explanation is that there are very few people who do not enjoy some form of recognition, whether it be private (simple congratulatory email) or public such as for my sister.
The surprising thing for me is that there are companies or managers who do not take advantage of this. It is such a simple thing for them to do, and additionally, if someone in your team is publicly recognised as having done a good job, then that must reflect positively on your performance as a leader...
I think I've been very lucky in terms of the managers I've worked under during my careers so far, but one in particular stands out for me here. While in my case particularly, the success might have been primarily due to his assistance, he was more than happy to publicly recognise my efforts and promote this to the wider team (or company). Given the importance of a strong team culture to any organisation, this has really stuck with me and is still the template to which I measure others.
In short, if managing others, praise may not appear much to you, but do not undervalue its impact on the recipient!
And congratulations Jess!!!
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