Page 123 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

94 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

They are not powerful prompts that call us into action, and
their novelty wears off quickly.
10. “My employees never do anything worth praising
them for.” Supervisors who think this way are either not
paying enough attention to their employees or have the bar
set unreasonably high. First, start spending more time work-
ing with your people and taking a more active interest in what
they are doing. If you’re really out of touch with your employ-
ees, you may have to ask them to tell you about their recent
accomplishments. Second, lower your bar to a more reason-
able level, perhaps not on everything but in a few areas that
will allow your employees to achieve success. You don’t have to
let them know that you’ve lowered the bar; simply begin prais-
ing at lower levels of performance. Third, ask an employee
to do something outside of his or her regular scope—keep
it small and make it so he or she cannot help but succeed.
In other words, set your employee up for success, giving you
the ammo you need to praise him or her. Finally, ask others
to share with you any good experiences they have with your
team members. You can’t benefit from the power of recogni-
tion if you never use it, and the longer you go without using
it, the more disrespected and disengaged employees will feel.
The good news is that regardless of your management style
up to this point, employees nearly always respond positively
to supervisors who make a sincere and concerted effort to
recognize their work. Start today catching good behavior and
taking responsibility for engaging your employees.

How to Praise Powerfully

Given that verbal praise, also called social reinforcement, is the
single most effective form of recognition, it is important that you