Respect is more important than praise for employees

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Dear Joan:
As a current union steward working in a business environment with an "unenlightened" management system; a former employee involvement rep; member of an economic development corporation; and a former graduate student in psychology, I read your articles with current interests in mind.

I generally agree with your points but I am sometimes left with an empty feeling. It's like we are agreeing but for different reasons. In regard to your recent article on praise, I can be more specific. You mentioned our "internal drivers" being unable to perform well without enough fuel. And in the case of this particular article your fuel is praise. The examples of praise you listed and expounded on are nice. This is the part we usually agree on. But in this case, I am able to identify what the empty feeling is; the part you left out. The part you left out is that praise is an external motivator.

I believe we are accustomed to it and even believe that we like and need it. But what we really want is respect, input and a sense of control. We want to be in on decisions, ideally not simply to vote but rather to form consensus. I love a note now and then but I rarely, if ever, enjoy praise because I am internally motivated.

If the internal motivation of employees and people in general could be tapped we would have a much better work environment and world in general. It is tapped not through praise but via the tools I mentioned. I view managers as managers, not "bosses." They have a job which is different from others but their job must include respect for basic humanity and its potential. This should be nurtured and praise is not the best way to get there.

You may enjoy a book titled, "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn, in which he discusses in detail the negative implications of praise. I hope I've been clear. Thanks for your time.

Answer:
I couldn't agree with you more. As I'm sure you know from reading my column over the years, I'm a strong advocate of meaningful employee involvement, of giving employees more control over their work, and treating everyone in the organization with respect and dignity. In fact, that is what my consulting company does; helps owners and managers create healthy, productive environments and enlightened leaders.

And although I agree that we do things for our own reasons (rather than because of external factors), I believe that praise helps to fuel that self-motivation. For instance, I often hear employees complain that their manager doesn't notice anything they do until they mess up. They never hear a word of appreciation or acknowledgement for a job well done. The good employees are self-motivated to a point, but even they become resentful when they never hear about their hard work and effort. Their motivation then turns to finding a new job.

In my opinion, praise goes a long way toward creating a respectful, civilized workplace. I don't think that praise alone is enough, but it certainly is a key component in feeling appreciated and valued.

I am familiar with Kohn's philosophy. For those of you who aren't, the subtitle of his book reveals his thesis: "Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes" (Houghton Mifflin). He maintains that we shouldn't treat humans like laboratory animals and that artificial incentives don't work. His book has stirred controversy and healthy debate. Although people know that internal motivation comes from within, not without, they are still asking "Well, then what should we do if we scrap our incentive compensation system and we don't praise their efforts and accomplishments?" Clearly, his is an idealistic view that serves to get people searching for what does work. Personally, even though I think "gold stars" are insufficient- even demeaning-I think honest acknowledgement and recognition don't fall into the same category.

In my experience with many organizations, I believe that there isn't one magic answer. But here's where you, Kohn and I agree: the involvement of employees in real decision-making, giving employees the kind of control they need to do the right things, and treating them with respect are fundamental to creating the kind of internal motivation employers are looking for.

Would you like to bridge the commitment gap with your employees?   We provide management consulting, executive coaching and customized, skills-based training for managers and supervisors, that changes behavior, creates a healthy culture and builds a customer-focused team.  Call us today at (800) 348-1944.