Recognition and Reinforcement: Coaching a Star

Commonly known as appreciation, whether formal or informal, recognition in the workplace is a powerful motivator for employees to perform better and become more comfortable in the workplace. Appreciation is considered to be an essential human need. Individuals thrive in an environment where they feel valued and they continue to maintain their work ethic and often have been noted to improve the quality of their work as well.

The definition of motivation is a creating an environment where people feel appreciated and energized about the tasks that they are given. Motivation is "a mission-critical issue for all transformational managers and can be one of the most perplexing, but potentially rewarding aspects of the management role" (Baldwin, 2007). It can therefore be stated that motivating one's workers will have a momentous effect on them. The question becomes though, how does one motivate their staff as a manager? One particular theory that can be applied here is the theory of expectancy. Expectancy theory is grounded on "three key beliefs: expectancy, instrumentality and valence" (Baldwin, 2007). Essentially, to understand how to motivate individuals better to achieve the desired level of performance, perception of success must be the underlying premise of the manager. The managers have to known and believe that his/her staff will perform and be instrumental in the success of the company or organization and the person must have a particular valence to their work approach. The work that they do must ultimately matter to them as far as the effects of their labor.

Often though, as a result of the expectancy theory, there is special emphasis placed on the motivational force of the employee to do well within the company as an effect of the motivation. Managers have to or need to understand that the individual has to have cause to do well within a company or organization. In recognizing an employee, there are several items that have been considered to be highly effective such as "thanking the person by name; specifically stating what they did that is being recognized; explaining how the behavior made the manager feel; pointing out the value that their role added to the team or organization and thanking the person again by name for their contribution" (Harrison, 2013). If there is not a positive emphasis placed on recognition of an individual's ability then, companies and organizations will have patterns of unmotivated workers and experience challenges. To further understand motivation, companies and organizations have to defer to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Maslow's theory "suggests each of us is motivated by five basic needs arranged from lower order to highest order" (Baldwin, 2007). Our foundation for success then is based on our well-being according to Maslow. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the basic needs (i.e. food, shelter, sex, sleep) and at the top is self-fulfillment. Managers that motivate have to or should propose making us feel loved and belonged at our place of work. Each and every individual has to have these needs fulfilled in order to be effective in whatever role they take on within a company or organization. Maslow's theory translates across a variety of cultures and workplace environments and can be applied as the dominant effect in the success of a goal or objective. In addition to Maslow's hierarchy of needs and these successfully being applied to motivating one's staff and building organizational morale, companies and organizations should also pay attention to the platinum rule, which states "treat others how they wish to be treated" (Baldwin, 2007). If managers treat their staff with respect, then in turn the workers will have respect for their managers and perform the work they need to accordingly.

Ultimately, through reinforcing recognition, managers will have a successful staff/team operating at their greatest potential. Companies and organizations are continually recognized by employees for their recognition efforts. Employees want to be wanted so to speak and by companies understanding the effects that their cause for recognition and reinforcement has on the individuals, the workforce will run a lot smoother as a result.

References

Baldwin. (2007). Developing management skills, what great managers know and do. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Harrison, K. (2013). Why employee recognition is so important. Retrieved from http://www.cuttingedgepr.com/articles/emprecog_so_important.asp