Question

Read the article “Giving Praise” (see below). Do you believe giving praise is motivational? What is significant about the process in the article? Would you improve the process? Do you believe managers implement and utilize praise frequently as a motivational tool? Describe your thoughts.

"GIVING PRAISE"

In the 1940’s, Lawrence Lindahl conducted a survey revealing that what employees want most from a job is full appreciation for work done. Similar studies have been performed over the years with little change in results. A recent survey showed that managers want personal recognition more than salary by four to one. Another survey revealed that 27 percent of workers would quit to move to a company known for giving praise and recognition; 38 percent of workers said they rarely or never get praise from their boss. When was the last time your boss gave you a thank-you or some praise for a job well done? When was the last time your boss complained about your work? If you are a manager, when was the last time you praised or criticized your employees? What is the ratio of praise to criticism?

Giving praise develops a positive self-concept in employees and leads to better performance – the Pygmalion effect. Praise is a motivator (not a hygiene) because it meets employees’ needs for esteem/self-actualization, growth, and achievement. Giving praise creates a win-win situation. It is probably the most powerful, simplest, and yet most underused motivational technique there is.

Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson have recently popularized giving praise through their best-selling book The One Minute Manager.  They developed a technique that involves giving one-minute feedback or praise. The steps in giving praise are as follows:

Step 1, Tell the person exactly what was done correctly; Step 2, Tell the person why the behavior is important; Step 3, Stop for a moment of silence; Step 4, Encourage repeat performance. Blanchard calls it one-minute praise because it should not take more than one minute to give the praise. It is not necessary for the employee to say anything. The four steps are illustrated below.

Step 1. Tell the person exactly What Was Done correctly:When giving praise look the person in the eye. Eye contact shows sincerity and concern. It is important to be very specific and descriptive. General statements like “you’re a good worker” are not as effective. But, on the other hand, don’t talk for too long, or the praise loses its effectiveness.

Supervisor: John, I just overheard you deal with that customer’s complaint. You did an excellent job of keeping your cool; you were polite. That person came in angry and left happy.

Step 2. Tell the Person Why the Behavior Is Important: Briefly state how the organization, and/or person, benefits from the action. It is also helpful to tell the employee how you feel about the behavior. Be specific and descriptive.

Supervisor: Without customers we don’t have a business. One customer bad-mouthing us can cause hundreds of dollars in lost sales. It really made me proud to see you handle that tough situation the way you did.

Step 3. Stop for a Moment of Silence: This is a tough one. Most supervisors the author trains have trouble being silent. The rationale for the silence is to give the employee the chance to “feel” the impact of the praise. It’s like “the pause that refreshes.”

Supervisor: (Silently counts to five.)

Step 4. Encourage Repeat Performance: That is the reinforcement that motivates the employee to keep up performance. Blanchard recommends touching the employee. Touching has a powerful impact. However, he recommends it only if both parties feel comfortable. Others say don’t touch employees; it could lead to sexual harassment charge.

Supervisor: Thanks, John, keep up the good work (while touching John on the shoulder, or shaking hands).

?As you can see, giving praise is easy, and it doesn’t cost a penny. Several supervisors the author has trained to give praise say it works wonders. It’s much better motivator than giving a raise or other monetary reward. One supervisor stated that an employee was taking his time stacking cans on a display. He gave the employee praise for stacking the cans so straight. The employee was so pleased with the praise that the display went up with about 100 percent increase in productivity. Notice that the supervisor looked for positive and used positive reinforcement, rather than punishment. The supervisor could have made a comment such as, “Quit goofing off and get the display up faster.” That statement would not have motivated the employee to increase productivity. All it would have done was hurt human relations, and could have ended in an argument. Notice that in the above supervisor’s example the cans were straight. The employee was not praised for the slow work pace. However, if the praise had not worked, the supervisor should have used another reinforcement method.

Giving Praise Model

Step 1. Tell the person exactly what was done correctly.

Step 2. Tell the person why the behavior is important.

Step 3. Stop for a moment of silence.

Step 4. Encourage repeat performance.

Answer 1

Praise is a very important part of positive psychology that impacts the mental and emotional well being of an individual, by cultivating positivity in their behaviour, through appreciation of their work. This results in creativity and increased productivity through positive motivation. The word praise itself has a feeling of extreme positivity and importance of phrase and be gathered on the fact that every religion and every scripture is devoted to the praise of God. Therefore we can definitely assume that it is the most commendable offering of appreciation that one human being can make to another. It has been proved various surveys and Research studies that employees who receive regular praise and appreciation, and work in a positive environment within the organisation perform optimally on the jobs and achieve the desired results. However for the prayers to be effective it should be delivered in a genuine Mana which will make it effective and should not seem like lip service. If the employee is convinced that the praise is genuine and his efforts appreciated he definitely he is motivated to deliver even better results to keep living up to the expectations of the manager or boss. Free somehow places and invisible responsibility upon the receiver that they have to satisfy the person praising them and strive for even higher output.

The significance of the process in the article is that the methodology employed to deliver the praise ensures its effectiveness and the desired result required of the action being repeated with the same level of output or an improved output, it's simply ensures that the person will live up to the expectations and not reduce the output. For any communication to be effective even if it is grace, there are certain important factors involved. Firstly the communicator has to ensure that information is delivered in a concise manner but I understood. Secondly in support of initial communication the reason for it is to be delivered and a brief moment of silence helps the person receiving the communication to process it and orient themselves accordingly, lastly the communication is reinforced positively bye placing an expectation of repetition, this can become the highest motivating factor. When is the Giving praise model is quite effective as it includes all the important factors required for any communication to be effective.

Race is one of the easiest and simplest methods of motivation available across the board whether in an organisation and educational institutions or within our homes itself. However this motivational tool is not put to effective use by most managers and even when utilised is not implemented in an effective manner. The reason for this is that within organisations this is not yet considered an important motivational factor, in the same category as advancement, personal growth, or even increments. This belief however seems to be missguided as most motivational factors may increase the cost burden on the company, praise on the other hand can have surprising results for excellence in performance as well as optimisation of output. It cannot be mentioned often enough however but praise should be genuine and well deserved else it can create negative results and this is one reason why managers hesitate to use praise. Also it may many times be important to balance praise with healthy criticism and negative feedback to ensure that the importance of achieving the results and addressing issues that may hinder this goal is recognised and understood.