Sports teams are perhaps one of the most enthusiastic organizations we know of. She has thought of a soccer game between Saprissa and Alajuela in which no one carries the scoreboard and there is not a single shout of encouragement between the Ultra and the Twelve.
Very boring of course. The players would go out on the court to play only for the money.
There are two ways to reward people: through currency and congratulations.
Einstein was not aware of what he had written:
E = mc2
where enthusiasm is the same as the mission multiplied by the currency and the congratulations.
This reminds us that both money and congratulations are important. Money comes first. It is necessary to supply the material needs of the person, clothing, food, etc. (and everything Maslow established), to be able to later feed the spirit with congratulations.
Returning to the subject of congratulations, they must be authentic. They are simply the affirmation that what the person is and what they do is important and that the person is making a valuable contribution to the fulfillment of the company's mission.
If there is nothing to congratulate, you have to find positive things and that is not easy when all your life you have looked for the wrong things. On the other hand, if it is not possible to congratulate a person directly, it is always possible to give a voice of encouragement. And a voice of encouragement means you have faith in your ability, and recognizing that ability is both a compliment and a congratulation.
Once we heard a Mexican exhibitor say "you pretend to pay me and I pretend to work, we are tables." Why are people so interested in money incentives? We don't know a person who went on strike to get more congratulations.
The reason for many work problems is related to the spirit. Lack of respect may be one of the biggest. However, basic needs are essential. We need food, clothing, and shelter to survive. Money comes as the first concern and that is why we focus on it.
The managers have a certain amount of money for the payroll and it is finite. If they run out it is not your personal responsibility. But everyone has an inexhaustible source of congratulations. If these are scarce it is your own fault. Therefore paying attention to money is something that is convenient for managers.
Congratulations are affirmations, but there are active and passive affirmations. Active activities are expressing to a person who has done an excellent job or giving them a prize. But passive affirmations can be much more powerful, such as letting people do their jobs, biting their tongues, and looking calm while a subordinate does delicate work. If you abstain and remain silent, that silence represents a very clear message to the employee: "You are capable, you can handle it, I trust you."
Giving a person the tools to do their job and then leaving them in charge, as long as they are competent, is very concrete. Be careful: dedicating yourself to congratulating people all the time, ends up being something artificial.
A true congratulation means:
- Timely In response to something concrete Unconditional Enthusiastic.
A truly authentic congratulation is never exaggerated and both active and passive congratulations are a powerful force. So powerful that some managers think they get away with it, replacing money with congratulations. First of all it is crucial to give a fair remuneration, then you can add congratulations and feed the soul instead of giving more money.
Congratulations can be placed on a continuous line from left to right. The closer to the right they are located, the more effective they will be. Spontaneous, individual, specific and unique congratulations will always be better than scheduled, general and conventional collective.
Scheduled …………………………………………………………………… Spontaneous
Collective ……………………………………………………………………… Individual
General ………………………………………………………………………. Specific
Conventional ……………………………………………………………… Unique
An annual message congratulating the entire department on a good year, conveyed through a memo posted on a blackboard, does not have the same impact of an announcement made by the speakers to say that Francisco Pérez, from the dispatch department, has achieved a brand unprecedented in the number of boxes shipped without error for three consecutive months.
It is also important to congratulate on the progress, not only for the results. In the classic, the crowd does not remain silent while their team passes the ball to put it at goal and screaming only when the score occurs. But that is what most organizations do. And what is worse, they score in November and wait until February, after so many other games to shout for joy.
Do not look at the problems and the culprits, start looking for those responsible for things that have gone well.
Encouraging each other is one way to fill the job with enthusiasm.
Start making the most of the potential of the people in your company.
(Adapted from Gung Ho, Ken Blanchard, and Sheldon Bowles)
