One of the most powerful forms of human communications is praise. Complementing or praising people make them feel good and always gives them a sense of belonging. In fact, from generations to generations, revolutions to revolutions, compliment has done a lot of magic, from homes to schools to businesses to companies and so on. Praises work on the brain such that it makes it more willing to complete a hard or stressful task than it otherwise would. The brain sometimes taps its power and willingness to work from the compliments it receives and itneeds this experience day by day, again and again. Thus, it must be a regular routine.
Praises or compliments is a critical aspect of human life such that even people who have risen to the top still need it, becausethe full capacity of the brain will still not be reached even at thehighest point of achievement. To reinforce the behavior of someone to do excellently or rise up from his faults or mistakes,you must often encourage or praise the person. Effective praisecan sometimes alter someone’s self-image and brighten their world giving them boldness or courage in life.
In the business world, praising or complimenting is also an extremely powerful tool or drive. Praising or complimenting in the business world has done a lot of miracles and wonders andits absence on the other hand has caused a lot of harm. Some companies saw a boom in their activities because they worked on the brains of their employees by praising, appreciating and motivating them while some companies sadly collapsed or failed, couldn’t hit their targets because they failed to praise and compliment the efforts and performances of their employees.Boosting productivity, performance and others are sometimes linked with praises or positive reinforcement. Research shows that if you have 100 employees and they are not well motivated,only 12 of them will work as expected. Praises or motivation should never be undermined in this human setting. Praises has a lot of importance, but I want to talk about just three of them.
The first importance of praise I want to talk about is, it brings improvement in performance. One writer, Raman Rana once said “Praise someone’s effort, work and creativity, even if it’s not so much praiseworthy, praise it and you will see an unbelievable improvement in the next performance”. Praising someone has been proven as one of the ways that brings improvement in performances of individuals or groups.Improvement has always been a fuel for rising up, hitting targets, reaching goals or attaining aims. No one on earth gets his dream or vision achieved in a day but through a gradual process, which means the person must keep on working, and as they keep on working, they keep on improving in performance and ultimately, to the achievement of their dream or vision. In the same way, in businesses or companies, praising or appreciating employees can help them improve their performance towards the achievement of set organizational goals. Consistent and persistent increase or improvement in performances can be fueled or driven when individuals are wellpraised or motivated even for the little things they do.
The next importance of praise I want to talk about is it brings commitment and engagement. Been committed and engaged to a mission or vision is one of the difficult things to do whether it is an organization’s vision or a personal one. Commitment is the dedication towards achieving or completing a particular task effectively and efficiently and engagement is the level of involvement or contribution towards the attainment a specific goal. People want to be recognized for what they are doing even if is a personal vision. Let’s read how Mavis got committed to her work and succeeded out of it “Immediately after my first degree, I decided to make a market basket from sawdust and after my first sample was made, my parents complained that my priorities had been misplaced- I keep focusing on “foolish”things. I then decided not to continue but find a job. When a friend of mine saw the basket, she began to praise the work to the extent that she said it was the finest basket she had ever seen, the praise built my confidence and increased my commitment and engagement to the work. I spent a lot of time on it and after one year, seven months, it began to sell and now, I make thousands of cedis in a week from this basket production and my parents who ridiculed me are now feeding from it.” To increase individual or employees’ commitment and engagement towards a specific work, mission or vision, they must be well praised or motivated.
The last importance I want to spell out is, praise brings self-development and innovation. Praises or motivation can build up or facilitate the development of an individual or employee and also increase their innovative and creative skills and abilities. Individuals, groups or employees develop talents and potentials, better their lives, enhance their quality of life when they are well motivated. It becomes easy to continue to develop ourselves, because a motivated person is confident to develop all the time. Again, individuals tend to be more creative and proactive when they are praised. Gordorn Torrs in his book,“Managing Creative People” said, “The higher the creator’s motivation, the more creativity and original he will become”which means when a person is praised or motivated he tends to reason more in other to be more innovative and creative. In the nut shell when anyone is praised or motivated he begins to develop new self and become more proactive, innovative and creative.
In conclusion, showering praises and complements is important in influencing the actions and behaviors of individuals, groups and employees. When you want to see people improving, been committed and engaged to work at home, schools andworkplace, try to praise and motivate. Praise when properly utilized has a positive impact on lives and behaviors and therefore should never be ignored or undermined.
Dear Parent/Guardian, your ward is still at the bottom of the class, because all you do is complain about how bad their grades are. Don’t you think a little motivation and kind words would have just done the trick? Hello Mr./Mrs. CEO, don’t you think it’s about time you motivated the grumpy looking employees? You will thank me later after reading this article. (Wink)
The School of Life 