Chapter Ten

1. Chapter Ten Building Stronger Relationships with Positive Energy

2. Chapter Preview: Building Stronger Relationships with Positive Energy • How positive energy contributes to interpersonal relationships • The need for encouragement and positive feedback • Use of positive reinforcement to improve relationships and reward behavior • Major barriers to use of positive reinforcement • How to reward individuals and team performance

3. Energy Defined • The capacity for work or the force that helps us do things with vitality and intensity • Negative, stressful work environments results in • Physical fatigue • Decreased optimism • Lower morale • Positive work climate makes workers feel • Uplifted • Encouraged • Empowered

4. Energy Force in Our Lives • Energy has many intriguing dimensions • Energy comes from food, exercise, sleep and subtle forces • Positive energy is supportive, loving, and nurturing • Negative energy is fearful, judgmental, and depleting • Some people make us more electric or at ease • Some people suck the life right out of us

5. Actions and Events that CreatePositive Energy • Organizations find new and creative ways to generate positive energy • Put people first • Commitment to work/life balance • Making work fun and entertaining • Accentuate the positive

6. Our Need for Positive Reinforcement • Craving appreciation is a basic principle of human nature • Few people have the strength of ego to maintain high self-esteem without positive feedback • Without positive feedback, employees often suffer from an energy deficit

7. Support from Maslow • Hierarchy of needs provides support for the use of positive experiences • Security (second-level need) is satisfied by positive feedback from a supervisor, manager, coworker or friend • One feels more secure when accomplishments are recognized

8. Support from Maslow • Belonging (third-level need) can be satisfied by actions that communicate • Being part of a team • Esteem (fourth-level need) would be difficult without positive feedback from others

9. Support from Skinner • Reinforcer is any stimulus that follows a response and increases the probability that the response will occur again • Timing of reinforcement has an important effect on behavior • When the delay is too great, a change in behavior is less likely to take place

10. Support from Berne • Transactional Analysis (TA) is a simplified explanation of how people communicate • Most people have a strong need for recognition, or “strokes” • Strokes help satisfy the need to be appreciated • Necessary for physical and mental health

11. Support from Berne • A physical stroke can be a pat on the back or a smile that communicates approval • Infants who do not receive hugs, caresses, and kisses often fail to thrive • A verbal stroke includes words of praise or expressions of gratitude • Often more important in adulthood

12. Total Person Insight Successful people speak words of inclusion rather than words of separation, words of acceptance rather than words of rejection, and words of tolerance rather than words of prejudice. Jack Canfield Author, The Success Principles

13. Positive Reinforcement—Creating Positive Energy • Costs of negativity are high • Rath and Clifton Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket • Full bucket, we feel great • Empty bucket, we feel awful • Can use dipper to fill others or ourselves • Dip from others, we spring a leak

14. Figure 10.2 - Dipper and Bucket Theory

15. Positive Reinforcement Defined • The goal of positive reinforcement is to encourage productive behaviors • Positive energy is an important form of life enrichment • Positive reinforcement is: • Easy to use • Inexpensive • An effective way to generate positive energy in the workplace

16. The Power of Praise • Today we have a recognition deficit • How well am I doing? • Praise makes an employee feel important and needed rather than taken for granted • Praise is an effective strategy that ensures repetition of desired behaviors • Try not to miss an opportunity to use praise to generate positive energy

17. Table 10.1

18. Courtesy Can be Contagious • “The greater the man, the greater the courtesy.” • Courtesy means being considerate of others in small ways, showing respect for what others revere, and treating everyone, regardless of position, with consideration • Rudeness flourishes in our society • Say “thank you” to someone who has been helpful to you

19. Figure 10.3 - Congratulatory Letter Reinforcing Desirable Behavior

20. Active Listening • Process of sending back to a speaker what you as a listener think the speaker meant in terms of content and feelings • Everyone feels a sense of value when speaking with a good listener • People long for authentic interaction • Dialogue groups promote self-reflection and self-awareness

21. Pride as a Source of Positive Energy • Pride is the emotional high that follows performance and success • Katzenbach notes that the power of pride is obvious when you observe high-performing workforces • Pride-builders can be found at all levels of the organization

22. Barriers to Positive Reinforcement • People prefer negative feedback to no feedback at all • Barriers • Preoccupation with self • Pride • Misconceptions about positive reinforcement • The “too busy” syndrome • Failing to identify commendable actions • Not knowing what to say or do

23. Preoccupation with Self • Narcissism is a major obstacle to providing positive reinforcement • Learn to give, in order to receive • Helping others helps us • Use Random Acts of Kindness • Little things we do for others that have no payback • Giving freely, purely, for no reason

24. Total Person Insight Feeling grateful is good for us. Gratitude is the opposite of the qualities of self-centeredness, indifference, and arrogance. Expressing gratitude affords each of us unique opportunities to reach out in love and share happiness. Saying thank you is a very positive thing to do. Malcolm Boyd Episcopal Priest; Author, Volunteering Thanks

25. Misconceptions About Positive Reinforcement • Belief that praise leads to demands for tangible evidence of appreciation • Perceived as losing power or control • In the absence of praise, people often demand greater tangible rewards

26. The “Too Busy” Syndrome • When we are too busy or stressed it is easy to forget or postpone thank-you notes or praise • The solution to this problem is planning • Set aside a few minutes each day to work on positive feedback

27. Failure to Identify Commendable Actions • Many opportunities to recognize the people with whom you work • Use creativity to discover many actions that deserve to be commended • What types of behavior can you praise?

28. Not Knowing What to Say or Do • Praise, recognition, and rewards can be presented in a variety of ways • Use thoughtful, personal kinds of recognition that signify true appreciation • “Good thinking!” • “Excellent idea.” • “Thank you.” • “Keep up the good work.”

29. Table 10.2

30. Activities • Send employee to workshop or seminar in which she or he is interested • Ask for advice • Ask for a demonstration of a correct performance • Display or discuss another’s work or ideas • Recognize someone’s work at a staff meeting

31. Rewarding Individual andTeam Performance • Traditionally, managers and supervisors were responsible for reinforcing workers • Today, co-workers, supervisors, subordinates and customers recognize the accomplishments of others • The concept of teamwork is changing the way companies structure their reward systems • Some organizations emphasize group rather than individual performance

32. Figure 10.4 - Shared Responsibility for Positive Reinforcement

33. Incentive Programs • Planned activities designed to motivate employees • Vacation trips • Plaques or pins • Certificates • Stock options • Merit pay • Cash bonuses • Organizations spend billions of dollars annually on incentives

34. Incentive Programs • Today, innovative incentive plans reward • Increased productivity • Improved quality • Lower operating costs • Some combination of these factors

35. Incentive Programs • Common objectives include: • Improve quality • Increase sales • Ensure safety • Decrease absenteeism • Foster teamwork • Reward participation in wellness programs • Improve customer service

36. Table 10.3

37. Criticisms of Incentive Programs • Most companies use some type of cash or noncash rewards • Criticisms still exist • Pay is not an effective motivator • Rewards can punish • Rewards can damage relationships • Rewards may mask real problems

38. Overcoming Criticisms of Incentive Programs • Many organizations have achieved positive results • Consider long-term impact • Establish specific, achievable goals • Seek employee input

39. Re-examining Our IdeasAbout Productivity • Overtime pay is often used to reward employees • Employees perform optimally for six or seven hours, then the fatigue factor surfaces • Will the employee who is rewarded for working faster be more productive? • Pink says we are progressing to a society of creators and empathizers

40. The Critical Importance of Environment • Positive energy flourishes in a supportive environment • Positive energy comes naturally in positive environments • People must feel good about the organization, its leadership, and other employees

41. Chapter Review • How positive energy contributes to interpersonal relationships • Major influence on employee morale and productivity • Encouragement and positive feedback are important ways to create positive energy

42. Chapter Review • The need for encouragement and positive feedback • People feel good when accomplishments are recognized and become upset when they are ignored • Positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator • Everyone needs to receive personal recognition for work well done

43. Chapter Review • Use of positive reinforcement to improve relationships and reward behavior • Studies indicate that recognition is an important employee reward preference, often ranked higher than monetary rewards and job security • Praise, pride, courtesy, active listening, incentives, and awards can be used to instill positive energy

44. Chapter Review • Major barriers to use of positive reinforcement • Preoccupation with self • “Too busy” syndrome • Blind to praise-worthy actions • These tend to minimize the use of positive reinforcement

45. Chapter Review • How to reward individuals and team performance • Most common incentive programs involve • Gain sharing • Profit sharing • Production incentives • Pay for knowledge • Suggestion programs • Employee stock options