Money alone is not enough to motivate employees. The latest trends highlight the significant impact of praise, which Czech employees do not receive enough of. We have a few tips for you on how to better integrate praise into your company.
The concept of modern incentive programs is changing. There is a clear shift away from traditional employee benefits and financial rewards as the main motivational tools. On the contrary, trends show the significant influence of positive feedback, praise, and recognition from superiors. Praise is becoming one of the most effective, but paradoxically also one of the cheapest forms of employee motivation.
Praise in the Czech Republic? Unfortunately
The importance of praise was also addressed by the well-known Employee Barometer survey, conducted by Up Česká republika among more than a thousand employees from domestic companies. According to the survey, the majority of employees do not receive praise at work for an entire month, and a quarter of employees do not receive praise even for an entire year! Praise is very important to employees, at least as important as financial remuneration.
How do praise and positive feedback work?
Positive feedback activates the part of the brain responsible for reward and pleasure, which has a direct impact on employee job satisfaction and increased motivation. This process evokes positive emotions, which has great potential to immediately improve mood and overall perception of work. Praise also boosts employees’ self-confidence. When people are recognized for their performance, they perceive their work as valuable and their role in the company as significant. Praise helps build an emotional bond with work and the organization, which increases loyalty and reduces stress.
How to give praise in practice? 6 tips for managers
- Praise should be specific. Instead of a general “good job,” it is better to say, “Your analysis was really great; it helped us save a lot of time in our decision-making.” This way, you specifically show what the employee did well.
- Praise in a timely manner. Praise should follow positive performance as soon as possible. It has a greater impact on employee motivation, and people also tend to remember immediate moments better.
- Praise should be authentic. Employees are not stupid and can recognize when praise is fake or exaggerated.
- Promote a culture of appreciation and try to make positive feedback a regular part of everyday internal communication. Praise should be regular; once a year during employee evaluations is not enough.
- Take advantage of modern technology and incorporate HR tools into your processes that make it easy to provide feedback online. A handy tool is the Praise feature, which you can find in your Verso package. Here, supervisors can easily praise employees online, but employees can also praise and thank each other for great work. You’ll see how popular praise will be!
- Train managers regularly. Employee training is an important tool that makes praise and positive feedback automatic. It is crucial for managers to understand how praise works and how to give it effectively.
Praise is a simple but extremely powerful tool that can completely change the dynamics of the work environment. Incorporate it into your corporate culture too. Perhaps through practical online HR tools.
