Employee Appreciation: Where We Go Wrong & How to Give Meaningful Praise

You’ve probably heard that when it comes to leading a team, a little praise can go a really long way. Experts are telling us that employees are hungry for recognition in the workplace. Employee appreciation (encouraging words and pats on the back) is the greatest motivating factor, and managers who don’t give enough praise won’t get the kind of results expected of them. We hear it over and over.

But here’s the problem: most managers have some room for improvement when it comes to understanding how to recognize employees. See, you can’t just go around giving praise to employees like a little league coach talking to his 8-year old players.

“YOU get a pat on the back! And YOU get a pat on the back! Pats on the back for EVERYONE!”

Praise has to occur on multiple levels.  There’s the text, which are the actual words you speak, and then there’s the subtext, the deeper message you’re trying to send when you demonstrate staff appreciation. It’s in the subtext where most managers screw it up. Let’s look at three ways managers can botch employee praise.

1. Condescension

The message, “Jane, you did a fantastic job of taking care of that customer” seems harmless. But what if the speaker used to be Jane’s peer and was just promoted to a managerial role? In that case, suddenly those words can take on a whole new meaning in Jane’s mind.

It’s no longer about telling Jane she did a good job; it’s about the speaker gloating over her higher status. So even though the text of the employee appreciation itself says “fantastic job”, the subtext sounds more like “I got promoted and you didn’t, so I get to pass judgment on the quality of your work.”

2. Manipulation

The text: “Tom, the design you gave me for the new marketing campaign was excellent. I’d like to see another one by Monday.”

Does that sound like genuine employee recognition, or a pretense for a boss to pressure an employee into taking on another big assignment at the last minute? Even if the praise is genuine, tacking on additional work at the end muted any positive impact you might have had.

3. The Blowoff

Finally, let’s look at the most damaging misuse of employee appreciation. Jack hands you a report he threw together at the last minute. You quickly skim it, without bothering to retain much of it. Jack knows it’s a mediocre effort at best, but you’ve got other things on your mind, so you tell him, “Thanks Jack. Excellent report. Great stuff here.”  That’s praise, on its surface. But the subtext tells a different story.

Now, if Jack’s a slacker, he’s thinking, “I just pulled a fast one on my boss.” That’s actually the best possible scenario, because it just makes you look like an idiot, while Jack feels pretty good about himself.

But wait, it gets worse. If Jack is a high performer, he might be thinking: “My boss, the person I’m counting on to help me advance in my career, couldn’t be bothered to read my report. He blew me off with a half-hearted compliment.” Your failed attempt at employee recognition ends up eroding your credibility with a valued employee. Have fun explaining that to your boss when Jack leaves for a competitor in six months.

Making Staff Appreciation Work

So, now that we’ve explored a handful of ways that efforts to show recognition for employees can crash and burn, let’s talk about what does work. Employee appreciation works best when you:

1. Invest the necessary time to determine that what the employee did was, in fact, praiseworthy,

2. Offer specific examples of what pleased you about the employee’s work, and,

3. Show that you “get” the employee’s talent.

Example: Let’s pretend Marie turned in a draft for branding strategies for a new product. Your praise might sound like:

Marie, I reviewed your draft several times and it seemed more on target each time.
[SUBTEXT: I take you seriously and I did my homework]

That tag line flows wonderfully and really captures what the product is about. I liked that you cut the bullets in the promo copy down to just four items, and each one highlighted the benefits of the product efficiently.
[SUBTEXT: I can point out specifically what pleased me]

Finally, you clearly put an incredible amount of high-quality research into this draft. That’s the key to making an excellent product strategy. [SUBTEXT: I get what makes you good at your job]

Employee Recognition Motivates

Can Marie feel anything but motivated by her boss’s feedback?

She worked her tail off creating that tag line and whittling those bullet points down. Her boss knows the difference between excellent work and work that’s “good enough”. He understands that what she did wasn’t easy. Best of all, notice the lack of the words “Great job.” They’re unnecessary. The subtext of that message did that for him.

Using employee appreciation effectively doesn’t mean using it too frequently or at random. In fact, using it that way could easily backfire and motivate people less.

Instead, praise employees sparingly but purposefully. If you can pinpoint the specific reasons that a person deserves recognition and make them feel like they bring an important talent to your organization, your praise will have the impact you’re looking for.

About the Author

Dave Clemens has spent years consulting with HR professionals, researching developing trends and tracking employment case law. He is a senior writer for the Compliance & Management Rapid Learning Institute online training site.  His work has appeared in the World Press Review, The Associated Press, and in several nationally recognized human resources, employment law and business newsletters. Connect with Dave @TheHRCafe.

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