More Love = Higher Productivity

I don't care who you are or what you say to the contrary, everyone loves a compliment. Whether it's related to your appearance, a skill that you have, or your work ethic, positive feedback is always great to hear. I recently received an email from Management in positive regards to my own work performance, and it completely made my day. It got me to thinking, corporations should really put a larger focus on thanking their employees for their hard work, and noticing when they do something above and beyond the call of duty.

All too often in our society, we focus on the negative. Employers, families, and friends are quick to point out our shortcomings, yet rarely provide us with compliments. Of course, this is a vast generalization. There are many people in my life who provide me with positive reinforcement, as I'm sure there are in yours. However, it is human nature to nitpick the bad and not acknowledge the good.

I think that employers should make a conscious effort to provide employees with a higher quantity of positive feedback. In doing this, I have no doubt that the average employee would be much more eager to bend over backwards for the company. Why would anyone who feels underappreciated want to meet, much less exceed, expectations? By recognizing the hard work that your employees put in for you every day, it provides encouragement for them to keep up the good work.

The best form of encouragement is obviously monetary, but other small tokens of a company's appreciation work as well. Even something as simple as saying, "hey, I noticed you've been putting a lot of effort into that X presentation. I had a chance to take a look at it the other day and it seems like it's coming along great! Keep up the good work!" will make a big difference to your employees. People are much more likely to bring their A-game when they feel that their efforts are appreciated.

This one little task is a free and easy tool to help increase productivity at any company. So why wouldn't a company want to implement this strategy?! They would be crazy not to.

So if you're in a management position at your company, make it your goal to offer at least one compliment to an employee today. After all, all any of us really wants is a little love!

P.S. This works with parents and children too (to some degree...), so show your babies some love!!