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Reinforce People More Consistently

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: Reinforcing people for performing in a certain way will cause them do do more of that activity. The problem most managers have is that they only think of reinforcement when something special happens. This article describes how reinforcement should be a continual process.

Reinforce People More Consistently

It is well known that positive reinforcement causes people to continue to do good work. The mistake made by many managers is to wait until something significant is completed before praising a person. I believe managers can improve performance by simply changing the mindset or approach to reinforcement.

First of all, let's get rid of the notion that reinfocement is a tool for leaders or managers. That is far to limiting. Reinforcement should be practiced at the high levels, sure, but it should be done at all levels equally. If leaders stress that worker-to-worker praise is expected whenever good things happen, then the good will generated by the praise will permiate the organization. Workers like to hear praise from the boss, but they equally like to hear it from their co-workers.

Reinforcement must be sincere if it has a chance to work. Insincere praise actually does more harm than good. Make sure your words come from the heart rather than what your brain tells you is expected of you. So many bosses say "good job Frank" when they really mean "why was this done so late." The reality is that most people have a sixth sense to smell out the BS. If something is phony, they know it immediately, and the person doing the reinforcement loses credibility. Just a couple times doing that will mean people basically write off the manager as being a blow hard.

Reinforce soon after the act. Do not wait until there are several good things done to say something nice. Reinforcement needs to be immediate to be effective. Can you imagine how you would feel if your boss said, "You did an excellent job with your analysis in that meeting last week." You would think he was nuts.

Be creative. Try to not follow the same pattern every day and with each person. Try different things and vary the approach from time to time. Take enough interest in the people to find out what really is reinforcing to them and provide that.

Be careful of providing too many tangible trinkets. Many bosses have a cupboard of pens and hats and t-shirts so they can "reinforce" people for small things. There is nothing wrong with doing this as long as it is not hopelessly over done. Watch the body language of people if you want to test the effectiveness of tangible thank you items. Often a sincere note or statement of praise is far more effective than a sticker or a pin.

Practice the art of fine reinforcement daily and make sure you insist other people learn how to do this well too. By spreading the good feelings and encouraging people when they do well, you will be changing the entire culture for the better.

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Article Tags: leader, manager, recognition, Reinforcement, satisfatcion, thank you, trinkets



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