Make Acknowledging your Employees a Daily Event
Good managers remember to acknowledge and motivate their employees. Great managers do it every day! Here are some proven methods for making sure that praising employees becomes part of your daily routine.
At the beginning of the day put five coins in you pocket. Then during the day each time you praise an employee, transfer a coin to your other pocket. It may sound corny, but once you get into the habit, you'll start relying on tricks like this one. Just remember not to buy a soda with the coins!
Make employees a part of your weekly "to do" list. Add the names of the people who report to you to your list of goals to accomplish. Then cross of the names as you praise them.
At the end of the day, take a minute to write a thank-you note to any employee who made a difference that day. Keep a stack of note cards on your desk as a reminder.
Always be specific about what you praise. Never say "George, you are doing a great job, keep up the good work." He may have been surfing the net all morning and now will think you are easy to fool. Wait for something specific to praise, as in "Todd, you did a great job with that customer, keep up the good work."
If an employee does excellent work on a project, spend some time with that employee to let him or her know how much it means to you and the company. Better yet, take that employee to lunch on the company, as a way of rewarding the behavior.
Use praise to improve poor performance. If an employee is doing well in one area, but poorly in another, use praise to improve the poor performance. Sit the employee down, praise what he or she is doing right and then say, "Now, I want you to take the same approach on this other matter?"
Never assume praise is enough. Superior performance over time deserves more than compliments. Praise starts to ring hollow if that's all the employee ever gets. Bonuses, raises, interesting job assignments and other forms of appreciation are absolutely essential at some point.