It doesn't take much to say those two little words, "thank you", but the effect can be tremendous. I don't care how senior the person is everyone loves to be thanked when they've put out a tremendous effort on your behalf. Recognition is a powerful motivator — in many cases more than money or title — and builds personal loyalty. It also ensures when it's time to go the extra mile again that you have someone that you can depend on. And with some of the crazy deadlines we have these days, that counts for something. As a consultant I'm constantly facing the pressure of performing large-scale efforts in a very short period of time so being thankful is important to me. And I really mean it, I am truly grateful because I would never be able to do what I do without solid resources behind me.
Throughout my career I have made it a practice to make sure that people who work with me and for me know that they, and their work, is appreciated. Unfortunately I seem to be in the minority which is really too bad. I've seen a lot of managers who either ignore the effort, have the arrogance to believe it was all them anyway (yes, I have seen this), who press for more believing this brings people to greater heights (in most cases it does not), or who are passive aggressive about it by giving you praise in one breath and knocking you down in the next. I'm not sure what's happening in the workplace these days but we should go back to the simple basics and do what makes people feel good and be decent about it. Common kindness goes a long way. Whether you're a new manager or have managed a staff for a long time, try saying thank you for a job well done and I bet you'll be pleased by the results.
Throughout my career I have made it a practice to make sure that people who work with me and for me know that they, and their work, is appreciated. Unfortunately I seem to be in the minority which is really too bad. I've seen a lot of managers who either ignore the effort, have the arrogance to believe it was all them anyway (yes, I have seen this), who press for more believing this brings people to greater heights (in most cases it does not), or who are passive aggressive about it by giving you praise in one breath and knocking you down in the next. I'm not sure what's happening in the workplace these days but we should go back to the simple basics and do what makes people feel good and be decent about it. Common kindness goes a long way. Whether you're a new manager or have managed a staff for a long time, try saying thank you for a job well done and I bet you'll be pleased by the results.
RSS Feed
