Two (Vital) Little Words
Here's an interesting snippet from Management Issues.
My own guess is that most incentive schemes provide little or no motivation, and many actively demotivate people. But I have never heard of anyone who found being thanked for their efforts a turn-off.
If more managers would slow down, think for a moment, and then express their gratitude for what others do for them, the world would be a happier and more productive place.
Research by UK performance improvement consultants Maritz has found that almost one in five of us (19 per cent) have never been thanked for our efforts at work, while more than a third only hear those two little words once or twice a year.Odd, isn't it? Praise and gratitude are free, yet many managers prefer to focus all their belief in motivation on things like incentive schemes and the like, often paying consultants large amounts of cash to tell them how to set up such things and run them afterwards.
My own guess is that most incentive schemes provide little or no motivation, and many actively demotivate people. But I have never heard of anyone who found being thanked for their efforts a turn-off.
If more managers would slow down, think for a moment, and then express their gratitude for what others do for them, the world would be a happier and more productive place.
2 Comments:
I wrote much thoughts in a column back in June, for Career Opportunities.
Like most issues, commonsense should rule, but very seldom does. Sometimes thanks are all that a manager has to offer employees, but it should also be one of the first items in any conversation.
Douglas
Yes, Douglas, you are so right. "Thank you" should be the first item when leaders talk to their teams. It's so simple—and so important—and so easily forgotten.
Keep reading, my friend.
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