At the Arteel Group, many years of experience have given us a realistic insight into the toll this lack of appreciation takes! When creativity, engagement, commitment, dedication and hard work aren't recognised and end up going unappreciated, the scale of undesirable results - on people's health and happiness, on their overall ability to cope with stress, on their performance and on their levels of productivity - is immense.
That is why in this blog, we are happy to share with you 3 vital Stepping Stones that will help you break with habits of uninterrupted goal chasing and start filling any recognition, appreciation & reward gaps in your workplace!
1. Recognise & reward in a personalised way
Recognising and rewarding hard work - both intrinsically and extrinsically - is meaningful, but only if the token of appreciation is actually valued by the other party. If you praise people in a way that doesn't resonate with them or offer uninteresting rewards, your efforts will be in vain: the people on the receiving end of your efforts will simply not be motivated or feel very excited about their own accomplishment. So first of all, be mindful not to over-recognise or under-recognise! If someone were to compliment you non-stop, you would come to find it insincere or patronising. On the other hand, if you never received any token of appreciation, or only ones that were trivial to you, that wouldn't feel very rewarding either. So personalise your praise and make recognition and rewards fitting - turn them into something that will make the other person feel truly valued and into something he or she really looks forward to experiencing or having!
2. Recognise & reward every step of the way
When a goal or project is especially large or lengthy, make sure you and your people get into the habit of recognising each other along the way. If you wait until the very end to give or receive those kudos, you may lose an opportunity to boost motivation and manage stress. So break larger goals into smaller chunks, with applicable milestones, and create an appropriate reward for each. This doesn't have to be anything big: just send an encouraging email, go for a nice coffee together or buy a bunch of flowers to cheer up the office…
Similarly, when you and/or your team complete an especially immense task or achieve something great, give all of you some time to relax and bask in the glory of your success before launching into your next goal or task. This allows you to fully appreciate and enjoy what you have accomplished. Plus, it gives everybody's mind the break it needs to avoid burn-out and to go full steam on the next project or goal!
3. Recognise & reward in a celebratory way
Reward reaching a goal by celebrating with others and invite close colleagues to join in on the fun! Provide a treat for everyone to enjoy during their coffee breaks or organise a drink. People are wired to connect, so celebrating with others provides a social and bonding element that boosts the reward's impact - big time. On top of that, celebrating together solidifies the value and meaning of any accomplishment: enthusiastically expressing your satisfaction and excitement for a job well done, makes it real and helps build self-esteem… and will probably have a contagiously motivating effect on your colleagues too! Plus, there is no better way to give your company culture a quick little boost than by gathering people for a small celebratory get-together.
When the time is taken to appropriately recognise, appreciate and reward hard work, it creates breathing space for people. Breaking with habits of uninterrupted goal chasing by just applying these 3 simple tips will create an opportunity for everyone to feel good about their achievements. And stimulating this sense of accomplishment will in turn boost levels of self confidence. It will send your company off on an upward spiral: higher levels of self-esteem help squash negative thinking and replace it by a can-do attitude, which in turn inspires future success.
So start applying these 3 simple Stepping Stones today, and create your own upward spiral to success!
Aria De Coster
