How to Give Morale-Boosting Praise

Experts said that most managers catch their subordinates doing something wrong rather than doing something right. Let us put ourselves in the shoes of that poor subordinate. How would he or she feel? Dejected? Unmotivated? Unappreciated? You bet!

Catching them doing something right and doing it properly on the other hand, will boost their morale, increase productivity and most importantly, reinforce the positive behaviour being praised.

So, how to give that morale-boosting praise? The acronym SIPS can guide us.

Specific - Our praise needs to be specific. What behaviours are we praising? What are the effects of that positive behaviour? Congratulating Donna for handling that difficult phone call from Mr Joe last Friday and because of that he is still our customer is an example of specific praise. Telling Alex he did a good job last week without going into the specifics, on the other hand is vague.

Immediate - We need to praise someone within 24 hours after a particular behaviour is shown. Telling Ahmad that he did a wonderful job assisting a customer 3 months ago will have little effect on him.

Personal - Muthu loves being praised and rewarded in front of a big crowd. Siti however, prefers a personal note or phone call. Not all people wants to be praised in public. Study our team members and choose the best praise method for them.  

Sincere - An example of insincere praise goes like this, "John, you did well last Monday for helping Mandy with the department's proposal. Because of that, the proposal was submitted on time. Great job! By the way, could you sit in for Tony tonight and do over time? His kid is sick and he needs to be home". Do not sugar coat request with praise because it is the fastest way to kill its effect.

So, a great way to boost morale is to catch our team members doing something right. The next time you do that, remember SIPS to give that morale-boosting praise.