The ONE thing most employees want and managers don't do enough

One thing I hear over and over again from people is… My manager / boss / leader / stakeholder is quick to point out mistakes but when it comes to noticing and commenting on the good that I do, they just don’t notice. They take it for granted.

Just this week, a sales manager told me with huge pride that he closed a sale for 20 000 units and how hard the whole team worked to close that sale. When the CEO heard about it, his only comment was, next time let’s make it 40 000 units.

Can you imagine how deflating that felt?

Do you think the team feel inspired to go for that 40 000?

Has that ever happened to you?

No matter how high up you are in the business, you still want to be acknowledged for the good you do. It doesn’t matter that you know you’re doing good work, hearing it from the people higher up makes all the difference.

It’s important to be recognised when you’ve achieved success – that seems obvious and yet we often miss doing it. The truth is that even when you haven’t achieved the desired result, there are many things that can be acknowledged and recognised on a daily basis. You can notice the effort, the trying, the over-time, overcoming challenges and continuing to show up even when external factors that are outside our control ruin it. You can notice attitude, positivity, a smile, friendliness, commitment, generosity and maintaining standards of excellence.

TIP

Here’s a step-by-step approach

1. The first step is to actively look for things to acknowledge

2. The second step is to notice them when they happen

3. The third step is to say something meaningful, highlighting what you notice and the impact this has.

Everyone benefits when they are seen and it only makes them want to do more. So make sure to give praise and recognise your team. It increases motivation, engagement and the desire to do more good work.

If you’d like to explore how to build your team’s confidence and engagement, let’s begin a conversation. Connect with me by clicking here