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All Work & No Say

THE ART OF APPRECIATING OTHERS

Jody Urquhart

Caught In The Act

THE ART OF APPRECIATING OTHERS

Four Qualities of a Good Acknowledgment

Appreciating others are a brilliant and creative

act. Managers need to notice and nurture consistent acts of

achievement. Yet many managers don’t consider showing appreciation

a part of their job description. Other managers realize that

acknowledgment is important, but they botch the process. Spouting

hollow praise too often will bring discouraging results. There is an art to

showing appreciation for others. Employees won’t be impressed by

trite and generic compliments. Most managers could use a bit of

practice with thoughtful acknowledgments. According to B.F. Skinner, a

good acknowledgment has four qualities. It is consistent:

1. Specific: Talk very specifically about what you saw the person do.

General motivational clichés like “good team player” will have a

lukewarm effect.

2. Immediate: Obviously praising someone for something she did

nearly a year ago is a waste of time because the best acknowledgment

is immediate. “Catch” someone in the act of doing well and compliment

the behavior on the spot.

3. Personal: Use the person’s name and talk about the qualities they

bring to the team.

4. Spontaneous: Never script compliments; it helps to practice them

regularly so you can be spontaneous. I would add to this always link

individual performance to the overall good of the group. Here is an

example: “Mike, congratulations on how you handled that difficult

patient just now. He was nasty and not about to give up, but you

sympathized, calmed him down and set him straight.” This

acknowledgment is specific, immediate, personal, and spontaneous.

Next, link individual performance to the good of the group.

“You're taking the time to explain things to that patient builds

understanding and agreement and makes that patient so much easier

for the rest of the team to deal with.”

According to a study done by Robert Half International Limited, a lack

of praise and recognition is one of the primary reasons why employees

leave their jobs.

This is a small part of the book “All work and no say” by Jody Urquhart.

You can go through the whole book by visiting: All work and no say by

Jody Urquhart

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