I’ve said it once, but it’s always worth repeating that work should be a rewarding experience.
A key part of that reward should be appreciation – and not just in the form of wages. A wage is not your reward, it’s your compensation for provided services. Quite a few individuals forget to see it this way and that’s a real shame.
Appreciation is something else entirely. It’s immaterial but can hold an astounding amount of weight when it comes down to it. I’m sure that most people can attest to the feeling of being appreciated for a job well done and the high it gives.
On the same foot, it’s always a real downer when your hard work and effort go without notice – not that this is always due to bad management or heartlessness, but because everyone is always constantly up against the wall when it comes to time.
Still, it’s important to remember that appreciation costs nothing but has a massive amount of value. One can easily see the correlations between appreciation and increased morale within a working team. Healthy morale can improve productivity and that creates more time – see? The maths works out.
However, it’s not always so cut and dry. Every industry is varied, every team is different and there’s always more than one thing to take into consideration. It’s easily forgotten, in such a robotic working world, that human beings require human interactions.
In summary, I’d say to any managers out there reading this that constructive criticism, if fair, is usually better received and a pat on the back for a job for a job well done can provide much better results than financial compensation. So next time, when you see your employee doing their best and giving you results – let them know.