Grease Wheels of Success With Praise and Recognition
Article date: Dec 3 2014
Marcus Straub
Business owners solidly focused on moving their companies
to ever higher levels of profitability constantly look for ways to
improve their business models. To achieve this requires a discerning
awareness of what is — and isn’t — working in daily operations. There’s a
potential pitfall here, however.
If, as a business owner, you’re so focused on what’s wrong
in your business model you fail to see all that’s actually being
achieved and accomplished and how far the business has progressed over
time, you’ll squash the morale of your team members with a lack of
praise and abundance of criticism. Over time, team members will come to
feel less and less excited about being a part of what you’re trying to
do with the business. This, in turn, will limit the upside potential of
the business, and therefore, the prosperity you’re working so hard to
create.
On the other hand, you’ll reap the greatest rewards when
you offer constructive praise and recognition to your valued team
members while also working to continually enhance how the company
operates. Why? Because when people feel good — even great — about the
positive steps they’re making and the work they’re doing, they’re
encouraged to stay the course and do even better. Just consider how
great it feels when you receive an award, are honored or are the
recipient of praise and recognition.
The majority of humans thrive on praise and recognition.
To understand this more clearly, consider two very different situations.
When a person is praised for a job well done, they
typically light up and get excited. This is widely apparent in their
body language. When this happens repeatedly, they grow more
self-confident over time, take on challenges with greater initiative and
passion and become more adept at whatever they’re doing. In other
words, they’re motivated in a positive way to learn, grow and become
more — to perform at a higher level.
Conversely, when a person truly gives their best and is
met with criticism in the form of what they did wrong and what they
should have done better, without praise or recognition for what they did
well, they’re left feeling defeated and inadequate. If you’ve ever been
a part of a situation like this, you know how devastating this
experience can be. Again, defeat is written all over their face. Over
time, this leads to a negative self-perception, diminished
self-confidence, resentment and lack of drive or determination.
A person’s behavioral style and motivators will determine
how and in what way they most want to be praised and recognized. Some
prefer open and public displays, while others would rather the praise
come in a more subdued and quiet fashion. Some team members are
motivated by days off, others an opportunity to learn and still others
by bonuses or raises. High-quality assessments coupled with sound
coaching make it easy to understand, manage and motivate each person on
your team.
It’s imperative to understand this desire for praise and
recognition starts early in childhood and doesn’t change simply because
we grow older. The desire to feel good about ourselves and the efforts
we put forth doesn’t leave us as we move into the world of work. As a
business owner, it’s wise to get a firm hold on this understanding and
change your perspective so you and your managers offer the praise and
recognition for which your team members yearn — and need — to be their
best.
When team members in any business are supported in
constructive ways, both in a job well-done and in those areas that are
in the process of improvement, they’ll perform at higher levels simply
because they feel valued and supported in their development. When you
give others what they want, they’re more likely to give you what you
want and everyone is happier.
Once I teach business owners how to lead from a position
of composure and with a balanced perspective, they work with their teams
in new, dynamic and powerful ways. This in turn, helps them to build
the empowered teams that produce the very prosperity they’re looking to
achieve.
In your unending pursuit of success and a finely tuned
business, don’t forget to “grease the wheels” that make your success
possible with well-deserved praise and recognition.
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