Praising As a Source Of Motivation

Every good manager knows that it is essential to praise the employees to achieve good results. In this article we are going to check how it works and how praising motivates people.

Praising In a Nutshell

So, why people like to be praised? Because it makes them feel better or happier, and this feeling is coming from early childhood when parents told a child what is allowed and what is not. However, in our case it is enough that praise has to connect with the positive results of work.

The crucial part here is to make sure that praising is honest. If an employee is praised for both positive and negative results, then he/she will see no difference between them, and so will have no motivation to increase the quality of work.

That is a piece that connects praise with motivation. Adequate and fair praise give a person good feelings about the work done correctly, motivating him/her to continue good work. That is the key to using praising as motivation.

Positive And Negative Motivation

Praising, as a source of positive motivation, works because people like it. They want to get more praises, and so they are trying to do the job better. The company management has to use this instrument wisely to achieve good results.

Remember that people also like the diversity in praises. They quickly get used to the same type of motivation, so the company has to have several ways (praises) to affect people's behavior and work performance. Different kinds of praises work better under different circumstances. The perfect set depends on the company's size, financial and social state of employees, the complexity of internal processes, and so on.

A quick reminder about the negative motivation — it also works well when used correctly. However, it is crucial to balance positive and negative motivation to maintain good performance, healthy communication, and a low level of discontent.

Proper usage of a praising for motivation is not that tricky. You need to understand the final goal, find the best path to it, and use praises to keep employees on this path. It is another step in the building of a good company and achieving success.