Have you ever felt unappreciated? What was the situation? How did that impact you?
Whether you’re aware of it or not, appreciation is a deep human need. We want to feel that what we’ve done matters and is noticed. “Thank you” goes a long way—even if you’re the kind of person who says they don’t like being thanked or complimented.
Employee survey data reflects this. Employees who don’t feel recognized for their work are more likely to job hunt. This is especially true for younger millennials and Gen Z workers, who tend to value meaning and connectedness more than previous generations.
So what’s the one mistake that might be causing your turnover?
Not holding your managers accountable to giving affirming feedback.
It takes less than 30 seconds to give affirming feedback. When you train your managers to catch people doing things right more often than they criticize, you create powerful feedback loops that cause people to feel more and more connected to your company.
The structure is simple:
- Identify a specific behavior you want to praise
- Explain the positive impact that behavior had (on you, or on the company, or on the client—etc.)
- Say thank you & affirm that they’re setting a great example of the best version of your company
- Make a private note so that you can notice a trend and, if possible, reward this person for long-term good habits with a prize, a bonus, or maybe a promotion
Praise can be private or public (unlike corrective feedback, which should almost never be done in public).
Train your managers on this and hold them accountable. Model this in how you work with everybody you work with. Pretty soon you’ll start to notice a very positive difference.
Contact a member of our team today to learn more.
