What is YOUR praise to criticism ratio?

Over the past 30 years, renowned marriage counselor John Gottman has been able to predict with 90% accuracy which newlyweds he works with will stay married versus getting divorced after watching just 15 minutes of their interactions on videotape.

The key factor that Gottman looks for is the ratio of positive to negative reinforcement that couples give to each other. When the ratio is 5 to 1 positive, the couples report the overall relationship as positive. Anything less than 4 to 1 and the relationship is perceived as negative.

Why does it have to be slanted so heavily in the positive direction? The answer is emotion. The emotional response surrounding each praising or criticism amplifies its impact. For most people, criticism is stinging and leaves a far larger emotional footprint than positive praising.

Leaders can promote healthy relationships with the people who report to them by praising and reprimanding effectively. Here are three tips.

1.Be timely. Nobody likes to deliver negative feedback. But some managers have trouble delivering positive praising also. Uncomfortable with the whole situation, these managers believe that by not communicating, at least they are doing no harm. But the reality is that “not communicating” is sending a message. If your boss never communicated with you about your work, how would it make you feel? What message would it send to you? People want to matter and they want to be noticed. As a manager, it is your job to make sure that you are paying attention to your people.
2.Be specific. Feedback is best when it is specific. A general praising of, “You’re doing a great job!” is nice, but a more specific praising of, “The way you ran that meeting today was fantastic. You really did a good job of having all of the background information ready and also redirecting the discussion when it was getting off track,” is better. When it comes to negative feedback, it is even more important to be specific. Consider how damaging a comment like, “You really don’t seem to understand how we do things around here,” is. Instead be more specific. Say, “We have a very specific process for approving email that needs to be followed. Anytime something new is created, please make sure I see it first and have a chance to review it before sending it out.” This turns criticism into redirection—which is what you’re looking for. Even though it will still hurt, you want to keep the focus on the behavior that needs to change. If you don’t, the recipient will only remember how you made them feel and the necessary change will be an afterthought.
3.Be aware of your emotional impact. Remember that negative feedback is serious business and carries five times the emotional weight as positive feedback. Anytime that you find yourself having to deliver a reprimand, make sure that you follow it up with a reaffirmation of the person and their abilities. This doesn’t mean that you backtrack or soften the reality of what needs to change, it just means a reconfirmation of your faith in the direct report to do better and your belief that they can change.
By mastering the art of positive and negative feedback, managers can strengthen their relationships with direct reports. Keep in mind both the quantity and the quality of the messages you deliver. It’s an important skill that will keep people engaged and performing at their best.

Strategic Recognition

For companies looking to do more with less, this is where the strategic use of recognition comes in.

The way to expand the impact of your compensation effort, without increasing the costs, may lie in expanding the use of recognition. Dr. James Oakley from Purdue University examined the impact of compensation and the role it plays in fostering and sustaining culture in his study “The Road to An Engaged Workforce”, (www.performanceforum.org). In Oakley’s opinion, all forms of compensation must be leveraged to drive the culture that’s right for your business. He feels non-cash as a compensation lever is actually under-utilized in all business models.

Effective use of recognition, using non-cash rewards that are distinct from ongoing compensation, is a powerful tool for sustaining culture, driving innovation and rewarding the right behaviors across the corporation.



Ask us about your free thanks website to send e-cards and personalized certificates - be strategic and recognize someone today!

Onboarding vs Orientation - what's the difference?

Here's an interesting article that talks about the difference between Onboarding and Orientation. How is your organization using Onboarding to engage YOUR new employees?

Onboarding has become a human resources buzzword but it seems as if many people confuse it with orientation. The two are similar, but very different. In fact, I suggest that orientation is simply one small piece of onboarding. While orientation is an introduction to a new job and some of the nuances of the organization, onboarding is an entire process designed to immerse a new employee into the vision and culture of your company.

Engagement occurs more quickly and the process is also designed to assist in retention by making sure the employee aligns with the organization’s goals and wants to stay.

Onboarding is proving extremely valuable in many areas where human resources is currently challenged such as engagement, workforce optimization, and retention. Successful onboarding programs result in an employee who is excited by their role, anxious to begin and feels valued for what they can bring to the table. In other words, the employee becomes engaged quickly which results in a higher level of production in a much quicker timeframe.

Recent research shows that employees decide shortly after they are hired how long they plan to stay at your company. Anything you can do to make sure they feel welcome and valued from the day they are offered a position is going to lengthen the time they choose to stay with you.

Another benefit of an effective onboarding strategy from the date of hire is the effect it has on counteroffers made by their current company. If a candidate is offered a role and you maintain contact with them in a very positive and welcoming way while they are deciding, they are more likely to view the offer of a raise from their employer in a new light. Instead of thinking that they just earned a raise, they are more likely to question why they weren’t more valuable to the organization yesterday. They will also feel great about accepting a job for a company that is already showing that they value the talent they are hiring.

Once a role is accepted, reiterating over and over in many meaningful ways that the employee made the right choice will do wonders for your engagement and retention rates.

Does your organization have an onboarding process in place? Have you seen this affect your production and retention rates? If you don’t have a process established, do you see the need for one and are there plans to create one?July 2, 2010 by Jen Turi, CareerCurve