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More Valuable than Money
As you know, your income depends on other people. You give them something valuable and they give you money. So even if you think you have nothing to exchange, you have one valuable item that people want from you.
"Approval and validation* are often far more valuable than material* rewards and are usually worked for far harder than mere pay." -- L. Ron Hubbard (*validation: confirm something or someone is true, genuine) (*material: physical)
In a Gallup Organization poll of 2,000 workers, 69% said praise and recognition from their bosses is more motivating than money. Four out of five workers said recognition or praise motivates them to do a better job.
Studies by the US Army prove that soldiers improve their performance 90% of the time when praised and 30% of the time when criticized. But officers in the US Army still prefer to criticize and rarely praise anyone.
Thanking employees is an effective management technique. Every manager and executive must know how to show appreciation to deserving staff members. Good acknowledgments encourage better behavior and increased production. Validating good workers can even help a business recover.
For example, The owner of a small business had a heart attack and could not work for a few weeks. He recovered and came back to work and found he had no money to pay his employees. Instead of asking the employees to leave or borrowing money to cover payroll, the owner used praise and acknowledgment as "pay."
Every employee stayed on board without financial pay for nearly two months. The morale of the group was tremendous. The operation became profitable and the team was rewarded with more money than they would have normally received from a similar job.
You can use this principle in other ways. For example, workers can boost their success by properly thanking their bosses and coworkers. If your leader and teammates are succeeding, your chances to succeed improve.
Some people have the mistaken idea that it is wrong or weak to praise people. "If I thank him or approve his good work, he'll think I'm inferior." "I can't validate her good work because she's already making more money than me." "Even though Joe is my friend, he's also my competition for the raise so I'm not telling anyone how smart he is."
Of course, this idea is wrong. For example, successful sports teammates are constantly approving and encouraging each other with loud yells and slaps. Without this encouragement, the team and each individual would fail.
Praise also gets a bad name when you are not sincere. Sarcastic praise or lying about your admiration can actually hurt your relationships. Validating and appreciating people only helps you if you are honest.
Seven Benefits of Giving Honest Praise
1. You give people a little joy in their day.
2. People follow your example and start to notice the good in others.
3. You can use praise to turn an enemy into a friend.
4. You improve a child's behavior when you use praise as a reward for good behavior.
5. People give you priority. For example, waiters and waitresses prefer to serve customers who show their appreciation of their hard work. If you criticize a food server, you may not get a very good meal.
6. As any successful fundraiser can tell you, no one will support your cause without some praise.
7. If you cannot pay money to people, you can always thank them which is all some people really want.
Eight Ways to Approve, Validate, Admire, Praise and Thank Others
1. Verbally and directly thank the person. Stop the person, look them in the eye, get their full attention. "Pat, thanks for straightening out those files."
2. Explain why you appreciate what the person did. Be specific. "I liked how you used the colored tabs to make it easier for us to find files in the future." "I'm amazed how you got Little Bill to calm down and clean up his room." "Ever since you upgraded my computer, I get my work done much faster!"
3. Expand your compliment. "The way you organize everything really makes it nice to work around you." "Ever since you came home, everyone in the family gets along better." "If you help me with my computer in the future, I'll get a raise!"
4. Give indirect praise. For example, compliment one person about another person. "Bob sure did a good job fixing my car!" "You know, Mary is one of the best friends I've ever had." "I think our boss is a fantastic manager."
5. Defend the person. "You said Chris is too much of a perfectionist, but no one can organize things like she does." "If one of us was the boss, we'd have to be tough too." "Maybe you should say that to his face and not behind his back."
6. Ask for the person's help, opinions or ideas. As a boss, asking for an employee's advice shows that you value the person's intelligence. "Could you give me your ideas about the parking problem?" "Do you think we should hire another assistant?"
As an employee, if you ask a coworker for help, it not only shows you have a good opinion of the coworker, it encourages him or her to be on your side. "Can I ask you for some advice?"
7. Compliment their achievement. Instead of praising the person, you praise their work. Become happy, even excited, about the person's accomplishment. "This dinner is really fantastic!" "That fish tank has never looked cleaner!" "Mrs. Jones was very happy after you met with her."
8. Physical contact. Hand shakes, shoulder pats and even hugs can communicate your appreciation quickly and effectively.
Copyright © 2006 TipsForSuccess.org. All rights reserved. Grateful acknowledgment is made to L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Take better control of your life with the TipsForSuccess coaching website at www.TipsForSuccessCoaching.org. For permission to copy, print or post this article, go to www.tipsforsuccess.org/reprint_info.htm or click here. |
