Giving compliments: easy and difficult
More and more research (positive
psychology; happiness) indicates that giving a compliment is very important
for the wellbeing, as well as the performance of employees. A compliment makes
you feel good (yes, that is true for everyone!) and that will help you to more
easily solve problems, be nicer to customers and/or come up with new ideas.
So, why are we not giving that many
compliments then? The reason might be our culture , in which we are trained to
focus on the weaknesses, mistakes and faults, rather than focusing on the strengths.
We are afraid that people will become lazy when we give them compliments, or
maybe that they will start asking for a raise. Again, this is not true. In most cases,
employees give a higher value to a positive and motivating environment than to
just their salaries.
Therefor we need to practice to give
compliments (at work and at home). And we also need to be careful if we criticize
someone. A decade of
research on high and low performance teams by psychologist Marcial Losada shows
the importance of compliments. Through studying 100’s of corporate teams,
the ratio of positive to negative interactions necessary to make a team
successful, is 2.9 This means that it takes about three positive comments,
interactions, experiences or expressions to fend off the languishing effects of
one negative.
Dip below this level, known as the Losada
Line, workplace performance quickly suffers. Rise above it, and the
results are predictably positive.
How many compliments did you give today?
Enthusiasm drives Excellence!
