Want a happier, more productive work environment? Focus on recognizing what your employees and you do right.

If you want a happier, more productive work environment that motivates and keeps employees, focus on recognizing what they and — just as important — you do right. While we see ranking of the factors that drive performance shifting with each study over time, recognition holds its own as a powerful motivator at all levels of the organization.

A survey in the late ‘90s of thousands of workers across the United States compared supervisor and employee rankings on factors that motivate employees. The typical supervisory group ranked the factors in the following order:

1. High wages
2. Job security
3. Promotion in the organization
4. Good working conditions
5. Interesting work
6. Personal loyalty of supervisor
7. Tactful discipline
8. Full appreciation of work done
9. Help on personal problems
10. Feeling of being in on things

However, when employees were given the same exercise and asked what affected their morale the most, their answers followed this pattern:

1. Full appreciation of work done
2. Feeling of being in on things
3. Help on personal problems
4. Job security
5. High wages
6. Interesting work
7. Promotion in the organization
8. Personal loyalty of supervisor
9. Good working conditions
10. Tactful discipline

The top three factors marked by the employees were the last three that their supervisors felt important for them. Do you think team leaders gauge the motivators any better today?

Wanted: More Praise and a Sense of Being Valued

Studies conducted since the one above show the ranking and interpretation of the factors varies by the different generations in the workplace and whether the respondent is male or female. And, as found in the 2013 U.K. survey by The Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), how much employees enjoy their role is now a top motivator. Furthermore, “When asked for one thing that would motivate them to do more, 31 percent of respondents suggested better treatment by their employer, including more praise and a sense of being valued, would be the most motivational thing their organization could do.”

Employees want full appreciation of the work they’ve done. This is recognition — a key factor in maintaining a motivated staff.

Think about it.

When someone gives you a compliment or recognizes you for doing something, how do you feel? Imagine, for a moment, being complimented by all your family, friends, staff and customers all day, every day. Without it going to your head, how do you think you would perform?

Recognition is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement of actions gets those actions repeated. Recognition and praise reinforces our beliefs about ourselves and helps make us think we are better than we thought we were.

Positive reinforcement is what builds our self-esteem. Our self-esteem is the way we see and feel about ourselves either internally, through our own beliefs, or externally through what we accept as the beliefs of others. If we feel good about ourselves and we believe others feel good about us, we perform better than we would when we see the opposite side of the coin.

Self-Esteem Fuels the Engine

People perform in a manner that is consistent with how they see themselves conceptually. So the key is to help people build their self-esteem.

Unlike money, which is an external motivator and never lasting, one’s self-esteem is internal, and internal motivation is everlasting. In order to build a healthy self-esteem, one needs recognition and praise, both from one’s self and from others. You can help build someone’s self-esteem and self-motivation not only through recognition, but also through advancement and responsibility where that person can obtain a sense of achievement and personal growth.

The problem is that in today’s society we are deprived of positive feedback. Compliments, recognition and praise are not part of our day-to-day culture. For some reason, many people find it difficult to give compliments, recognition and praise.

My assumption is that it is hard to give something you yourself don’t have to give. How can you give someone else a compliment if you can’t first compliment yourself? This goes back to our own self-esteem. We must first feel good about ourselves and tell ourselves so before we can feel good about somebody else and tell them that. It’s a vicious circle, but it all starts within each of us.

Another problem is we live in a society that has influenced us to look for the things people do wrong instead of the things they do right. How do you think it affects someone’s self-esteem if they are always recognized for the things they do wrong? Can you see them looking for the good in others and praising them accordingly? More likely they will find something to criticize in others.

We as a society are to blame for this sort of behavior. It is up to each of us to change, from the inside out.

These same influences have had an impact in our self-talk too. We tend to criticize ourselves for the things we do wrong. But how often do we praise ourselves for the things we do right? Let’s pat ourselves on the back for the good that we do. The more we acknowledge ourselves, the more our self-esteem grows; and the more our self-esteem grows, the more confident we feel, which in turn helps us to give more confidence and praise to others. This sort of self-recognition goes a long way, just as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.

Creating the Right Environment

You cannot motivate another person to do anything. We all know we can only accomplish so much on our own and that everyone is a product of their environment. You have the opportunity to create the environment. You can only provide the means and the atmosphere in which others motivate themselves.

You are the leader and you must set the example by demonstrating the appropriate behavior — and the appropriate behavior here is recognition and praise.

From this point on you will notice that employees will go out of their way to do a great job, because you took the time to thank them. Actions that get recognized or rewarded get repeated.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].