"If a worker does something right, and you catch him in the act, offer praise. If a worker does something wrong, then correct him. Do not put the two together, and do not use the word "but" after praising someone. Not ever."
By R. Bruce Wright, CPCU
In the course of our work, in the field, in seminars and in our writing, our consultants often refer to the need to praise workers in order to both motivate them and modify their behavior. We believe that consistently and diligently offering praise, thanking employees for a job well done, is best motivator you can use; one that has the added advantage of costing you nothing! In the last issue of this newsletter we published Part I on this subject and tried to give some examples of how to give praise, offer your thanks, and provide positive feedback. Here's Part II.
Praise is a powerful tool at your disposal. Of course, you can't ignore performance problems. You must consistently and fairly provide corrective feedback to workers who don't do things right, or else you will find yourself in deep trouble. But in doing so, you should resist the temptation to try to "soften the blow" by putting criticism and praise together.
Why do we say this? After all, isn't it better from the standpoint of workers' self-esteem for a manager who needs to correct a worker to first find something good to say to relax the person, encouraging a more receptive frame of mind before correcting the mistake? Shouldn't a good manager say something like "Joe, I noticed that you are doing a really good job on your work, but I see that you still aren't putting the tools back where they belong in the truck," in order to let Joe know that you aren't 100% down on him? No! This is absolutely not a good idea!
If a worker does something right, and you catch him in the act, offer praise. If a worker does something wrong, then correct him. Do not put the two together, and do not use the word "but" after praising someone. Not ever.
In a situation like Joe's in the example above, the word "but" acts like a big eraser, wiping out everything you have said up to that point. Nothing you said before the "but" will be remembered, or if it is, it will be seen as a set-up. Let's look at a simple example. If you have been to one of our seminars, you may even have heard us use this one before.
Imagine you are in a group where you meet someone for the first time. After a few general comments, the person says to you "Gee, I really like your shirt." You say something polite, and the conversation continues another few moments until you turn to talk to someone else. How does that little comment affect you? How does it affect your feelings about the person you just met?
If you're like most people, you will have a small, quiet feeling of pride. You may feel like your good taste has been validated, that you're looking good, or some such similar response. Again, if you're like most people, you will have a positive feeling about the other person as well, thinking he or she also has good taste, or is a nice guy (or gal), or something along those lines. The next time you meet that person, you are likely to have a smile on your face.
Now imagine a slightly different exchange. Same situation, same person, but this time that person says, "Gee, I really like your shirt, but the color really doesn't go with your complexion too well, does it?"
Now do you feel the same way as in the first example? I didn't think so. How do you feel? What do you remember about the conversation? After all, the same words were used, "Gee, I like your shirt." The difference is everything that came after the word "but." If you're like most people, you don't think you got a compliment on your taste or your looks. Instead, you feel like you just took a "shot." You won't feel good, and when you meet that person again, the smile won't be there either.
What does this have to do with work situations? Well, imagine that your company has just completed a complex installation for a large new commercial account, and at the final walk-through with the new client their facility manager says, "Your crews did a real good job here for us." How do you feel about that comment? Now imagine that instead the facility manager says, "Your crews did a real good job here for us, but the clean-up isn't acceptable. It looks a mess out here." Was this second statement a compliment? Was it both compliment and criticism? Or was it a complaint, pure and simple? Most people will agree it's just a complaint. The word "but" has wiped out everything positive that was said leading up to it. In fact, you may even feel like this facility manager has sucker punched you, starting out like he or she was happy, and then lowering the boom. How does that make you feel? You don't like it much, do you? And neither do your employees like it much when you do it to them!
When you first offer a compliment, and then follow it with a correction, your workers will see right through the compliment. The word "but" will erase everything positive you might have said, and they will see only a criticism. When you catch someone doing something right, praise them, offer your thanks, and then walk away. Say, "Thanks for the good clean-up job, Joe," and nothing more. Resist that evil impulse to add the word "but," which will just erase all the praise! If you also saw something done wrong, bring that up at another time, when you can get the worker aside. Wait until later to tell Joe that you would appreciate it if he would put the tools back in their proper places in the truck, that doing so makes it easier to find them, harder to break them etc. Joe will be more likely now to accept it, since after all, he remembers you liked his work on the clean-up job. In fact, praise builds up a reservoir of good will that you can draw on, making workers more receptive to your corrections, if the corrections come at a later, different time. The more praise you have "put in the bank" the more likely a worker is to effectively accept constructive criticisms.