Posted on October 30, 2008 by Dennis Snow
Here's a quote to pass around to your leadership team:
"When bosses are in the habit of giving praise,
employees get in the habit of being praiseworthy."
Barbara Farfan
When an organization sets lofty customer service objectives, employees are often asked to do things in different ways - sometimes in ways that may be out of their comfort zones. And that's good. Breakthroughs usually only occur when we are willing to move out our comfort zones.
I believe the single most powerful thing a leader can do when he or she observes an employee stepping up to achieve the organization's objectives is to immediately thank the employee for their performance. The praise might be a simple verbal "thank-you," a handwritten note, public praise, or whatever might be appropriate. The important thing is to provide the praise.
And, as Barbara Farfan says, "When bosses are in the habit of giving praise, employees get in the habit of being praiseworthy."