The Power of Praise

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Impact Learning Systems International P.O. Box 14110

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Toll Free: 800.545.9003 Voice: 805.781.3283 Fax: 805.545.9075

Email: info@impactlearning.com

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© 2010 Impact Learning Systems International www.impactlearning.com 1

The Power of Praise f you’re a manager, trainer, or supervisor, you probably know already that when employees receive

sincere praise on a regular basis, they feel valued and supported by the organization. And when

employees feel valued and supported, they become dedicated to their work and eager to meet the

needs of the organization. They also become more receptive to hearing feedback about what they’re

not doing so well.

In this article, you’ll learn some creative tips for remembering to praise employees on a regular basis.

Additional tips (as well as effective techniques for delivering feedback) can be found in Managing &

Motivating Contact Center Employees (McGraw-Hill, 2002), authored by the Impact Learning Systems

team.

Tips for Remembering to Praise Your Employees Put five coins in the right pocket of your pants, jacket, or dress. Every time you praise someone,

move one coin over to the left pocket. Every morning and every afternoon, try to transfer all five

coins.

Create a reproducible form with an alphabetized list of your employees (or learners) on it and at

the beginning of each work week start with a clean copy. As you go through the week, highlight

or check off each name to indicate that you’ve praised that individual for some aspect of his or

her performance. Try to get through every name by the end of each week.

Every week or two, select some aspect of the team’s work that deserves a pat on the back. Send

an e-mail or a voicemail to the group praising them for their collective success.

Make the first thing and the last thing you do every work day to praise someone for a job well

done.

Regularly review your list of top performers and be sure you praise them too. It’s easy to forget

them when you’re focused on helping struggling employees to improve.

There’s one more thing you should know about praise—It’s good for you! Think about it—don’t you feel

a lot better at the end of the day, end of the week, and end of the year when you’ve spent a good

amount of your time and energy making people feel good about themselves and the work they do?

Frequent praising forces you to look for the good in people. Over time, this can have a powerful and

positive effect on your own psyche.

Should you praise just to praise? Well, yes and no. We’re not suggesting that you make up things to

praise or that you praise employees for minute or trivial activities (for example, remembering to turn in

their time sheets). That would only serve to devalue the praise and make employees suspicious of your

motives. But we do suggest that you get into the habit of giving praise whenever you recognize that

doing so can lift a burden or make someone’s day.

I

© 2010 Impact Learning Systems International www.impactlearning.com 2

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