Friday, February 25, 2011

Appreciating team members ensures your success


Studies have repeatedly shown that engaged employees are more productive. Also, they ascertained a direct relationship between engagement and appreciation. Employees working with managers who appreciate and encourage them for good work perform well consistently, learn and grow faster. Progress of employees contributes to the success and growth of the manager. So, the next time you are happy with the performance of a team member, make sure you go to him and pat on his shoulder.

A simple act of recognition can change the day of an employee. It makes him feel valued. It keeps him cheerful and focused. By appreciating employees whenever they deserve it and encouraging them to keep up the performance, you can change their approach to work. On the other, an indifferent approach to their efforts and achievements will bring down their morale and productivity. Eventually, absenteeism and employee turnover will increase.

Appreciation is a good way of nurturing healthy competition in the team. It can improve mutual respect and camaraderie among the team members. This in turn increases the overall productivity of the team, which adds to your performance. So, throughout your career acknowledge others for their efforts. The benefits of this practice will be evident on your career very soon.

However, appreciation will produce the desired results only when it is delivered appropriately. For this you have to follow some guidelines. They are as follows:

Build Connection: An individual will be positively affected by appreciation when he feels that it is genuine. That means your appreciation should make him feel that what he did really made a difference and someone has gained from it. You should impress upon him that you, the team or the organisation is thankful for his support.

This is possible when you connect with your team properly. For this you have to build a trust based relationship with them. As the first step allow people to understand you.

Attempt to understand the mindsets of each member in your team. Make sure that when you say or do something, they understand what you mean and what you intend.

Another important aspect of building connections is maintaining your integrity. People trust you when they see you as a person of integrity.

Appreciate appropriately:
Appreciate the individual on time and in the most appropriate way. Based on how important his achievements are, appreciate him in front of the team or senior management, or send an appreciation mail. Sometimes appreciation should be followed by reward to keep up the spirit of the employee and motivate others to strive harder. Put some creativity into your recognition and reward system. Also make sure that you appreciate in time because as it gets late, appreciation loses its essence.

Be eager to celebrate: Be eager to appreciate your team and celebrate their success. Do not see it as a formality. Let your employees feel that you are genuinely concerned about their success and are happy to see them attain the goals. Keep checking work status reports of your employees to note achievements. Send appreciation mail immediately. This will make them believe that you are personally paying attention to what they are contributing to the team and the organisation.

Many managers feel that succeeding in their jobs is the duty of employees and there is no big deal about it. But it is human to expect appreciation for good work and be motivated by it. So managers should appreciate the staff whenever they deserve it. It is a part of their job! More importantly, the performance of the team determines the success of the manager. So, recognise the efforts of your employees and appreciate the appropriately whenever you get a chance.



Author:Nitya Sai Soumya

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-opportunities/article1481982.ece

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