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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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