3 ways you’re not doing a “good job” with praise

Just like a belly rub on an affection-demanding pooch, healthy praise in the workplace can help set tails wagging and morale soaring.

Being appreciated is one the key factors in boosting employee engagement, as a lack of recognition can leave individuals wondering if their work is even being noticed or making an impact. However, while praise and “thank yous” are important in the workplace, heaping accolades on every employee can actually do more harm than good.

This is because certain levels of appreciation can begin to sound forced or dishonest. If you’re continually thanking staff even when they haven’t contributed to a project, your words of appreciation lose their meaning.

Learning how to give praiseworthy praise is a crucial step in leadership skills training, to ensure your employees have the best shot at reaching full engagement. If you’re wondering whether your appreciation is being lost in translation, here are three ways your recognition techniques may be falling short.

You’re praising groups rather than individuals

In every team dynamic, there will be varying degrees of commitment and dedication. If you then offer the team equal praise, your staff could soon be affected by resentment – against you and their colleagues.

It is important to single out those who make unique efforts, offering specific positive feedback on what they have contributed.

Praising for the sake of praise

Publicly showering employees with trivial praise simply because you think you have to is meaningless. Your workers will soon learn that the appreciation you are offering them is superficial and has no value.

Instead, only provide thanks for work that really matters and leave trivial accomplishments alone.

You use praise to soften criticism

If you’re using compliments and kind words to soften the blow of criticism, this can put your workers on edge. It makes the praise you offer seem fake as well as clouding the critical message you wanted to get across.