Giving appreciative feedback
Give frequent, sincere and appropriate feedback on work done well. Point out the value of what the employee has accomplished and how the employee’s effort contributes to the excellence of the product, efficiency of operation or customer experience.
Far too often the only time employees know what their value is to the company is when they don’t have any, i.e. when they have done something wrong. Psychology has long proven that people respond far better to positive feedback than to negative.
When you consistently let your employees know what they are doing right, you accomplish several goals:
- You keep employees on the right track since they are likely to repeat behaviours they have been praised for.
- By valuing your teams efforts you increase employees sense of competence, which in turn leads to increased competence on the job.
- When letting employees know how good their acts further the excellence and success of your product or service, you reinforce pride in contributing to that success.
The key to successful appreciative feedback is that it must be immediate as well as specific and sincere. It’s not something to put on your monthly “to do” list with comments like “tell John he is doing well.”
Instead, whenever a piece of work is properly done, a project comes in on time and under budget, or when a customer gives positive feedback, appreciation to the employee or team should be forthcoming. The more immediate the feedback the more impactful it is.
Giving immediate feedback makes it easier for the feedback to be specific. You can target your appreciation more effectively when the event is fresh in the mind.
As a manger you are more likely to be viewed as genuine when your appreciative comments are immediate and specific.
“You’re doing a great jo” may be sincere and may be heard a such the first few times, but after a while, such expressions feel too generic and automatic to mean much to the recipient.
Remember to be SMART;
Sincere
Measurable
Appropriate
Realistic
Timely
Building a culture of appreciation to recognise people for “’doing something right” has a powerful effect on employees and the bottom line, through reduced staff turnover, improved productivity and greater customer experience.
With a huge turnover of staff expected in 2022 if you are not putting employee recognition and retention at the top of your priority list you will be in for a tough year.
If you don’t appreciate your employees, your competitors will.
