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Praising Finance and Accounting Employees: 7 Highly Effective Elements

 
 
 

In one recent survey of 65 workplace incentives, the incentive ranked number 1 by workers was a personal praising from their manager for doing a good job, yet 58% of employees say they seldom if ever receive such a praising. Although giving effective praise may seem like common sense, a lot of people have never leaned how to do it. A great acronym given to this effective praise by Dr. Bob Nelson is called ASAP-cubed. He says, praise should be as soon, as sincere, as specific, as personal, as positive, and as proactive - AS POSSIBLE.

1. AS SOON

Timing is critical. To be most effective, the thank you should come soon after the achievement or desired activity has occured. If you wait too long to thank a person, the gesture loses its significance: Your employee assumes that other things were more important to you than taking a few minutes with him or her.

2. AS SINCERE

Words can seem hollow if you are not sincere. Your praise should be based on a true appreciate of and excitement about the person's successes' otherwise your thanks may come across as a manipulative tactic - for instance, a ploy used only  when you want an employee to work late. 

3. AS SPECIFIC

Avoid generalities in favor of details of the achievement. Compliments that are too broad tend to seem insincere. Specifics give credibility to your praise. Say what the employee did and why his/her effort was of value. For instance, "Thanks for staying late to finish those calculations I needed. It was critical for my meeting this morning."

4. AS PERSONAL

The most effective forms of recognition are the most personal ones. They show that recognition is important enough for you to put aside everything else you have to do and focus on the other person. Since we all have limited time, the things you do yourself indicate that they have  a high value to you. Recognition by way of a quick email or voice-mail message is certainly appreciated, but praise in person mean much more.

5. AS POSITIVE

When you say something like "You did a great job on this report, but there were quite a few typos," the "BUT" erases all that came before. Save the corrective feedback for the next similar assignment. Seperate even constructive criticism from your acts of praise.

6. AS PROACTIVE

Praise progress toward desired goals. Don't wait for perfect performance; praise improvements and behavious that are approximately right. You will get the results you want sooner.

High quality praise simple communicated:

  1. I saw what you did,
  2. I appreciate it,
  3. Here's why it's important,
  4. Here's how it makes me feed.

You can praise an employee one-on-one, directly or in front of others, or you can even praise someone who is not around, knowing that your remarks will more than likely make their way back to the person. 

7. AS POSSIBLE!!

 

For more great employee recognition tips and strategies, make sure to watch our high impact "Employee Engagement Solutions" Webinar with New York Times Best Selling Author Dr. Bob Nelson - click here

 


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