INSYNC
Praise always begets performance
The mundane world is full of pleasure and pain. Yet, no one is able to accept pain. Everyone wants to experience happiness. Happiness can be realised by success. Success in turn is based on productivity and benefits. To be successful in life, one has to put in sincere efforts. In short, to realise the fruits of work, one has to work with dedication and devotion.
The present workplaces are multi-national, multi-cultural and multi-economical. Everyone wants to compete in the race of success. But the question arises whether everyone realises the fruits of their efforts. Is everyone equally able and have the potential?
What makes one more productive? The reality is that a productive man acquires the positive results of his efforts. The substratum of productivity is inspiration. Inspiration in turn plays an important role in people’s life. It is true that one has to be self-inspired and self -motivated. But all minds are not the same and they do require some inspiration or stimulating factor to make them more productive.
Praise and compliments are two sides of inspiration. These two internal forces energise a person and one becomes more productive.
There can be no better quote on the subject than that of Xenophon - “The sweetest of all sounds is praise.” And a German proverb says, “Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them.” And Indian classical literature questions, “Why should one show poverty of speech, if by praise-worthy words one gets benefited?”
In essence it can be stated that– “They, that value not praise will never do anything worthy of it”.
Everyone likes being praised:
However, there are a few points to be taken care of while praising and exchanging compliments at the workplace. They are:
People are endowed with certain natural traits. And ego, self-esteem and praise are strong traits that help people remain ever charged with internal energy. One may argue that these traits are internal, then why does one need external praise.
To quote the scriptures, “ Let man uplift the ego by the self; let the self not be degraded (cast-down). Indeed, the self is its own friend; and its own enemy.” Ego acts as one’s friend when praised.
Therefore, to satisfy one’s ego, praise is necessary. But one has to be careful in differentiating praise and flattery. One should not be carried away by flattery, because it becomes man’s foe, and cannot imprint on one’s mind and heart. Whereas, praising one’s hard work, results in fulfilment of the ego and gets imprinted on the mind and heart. It is believed that, “praises are a spur of virtue, but flattery is subtle poison”. Hence, one must be wise enough to distinguish between praise and flattery
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is excellent, whatever is admirable, and whatever is lovely- if anything is praiseworthy, one should not have any second thoughts in praising the person. Studies demonstrate that 80 per cent of workers showed increase in productivity after they are praised for the work done. One must thus be personal and specific in praising employees.
Be liberal:
“The one who gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.” It is to be understood that when we give out anything including kind words, we receive back more.
When we compliment good work, it means we are encouraging more of that good work in the future. It goes without saying that a generous man becomes more prosperous, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
One should not miss the chance to praise others. It is a true gift to be able to compliment with kind, compassionate, and sweet words.
Everybody has a need to be heard. Even more important one must be around the workplace to remind others that such and such person is more capable and needs to be rewarded with at least one compliment. If a member of staff has been blessed with personal success, then it is the civic duty of his boss to show and encourage others to do the same. The very fact is that one cannot imagine how many rewards will come one’s way.
This however does not refer to monetary rewards. Monetary rewards may or may not boost an achiever’s self-esteem. But a complimentary note or a certificate of appreciation significantly motivates that person to perform better in the future. Such rewards like appreciation- directly affect the overall productivity in an organisation.
Always an amazing thing happens when we take the time to congratulate, compliment and praise someone on a job well done. Almost immediately, we can see that the overall performance of that person goes up.
Now rest assured that praise coupled with compliments would ensure higher performance at the workplace.
DR. RATNA PUROHIT
faqs@cnkonline.com
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