4 Rules of Appreciation!!

 

High Five!!

Yes that’s the incentive my three year old loves the most whenever he does something good. What’s more amazing, how every time I give him a thumps up , he is excited to achieve more.

That somewhere reiterates Voltaire’s thought “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” It can make impossible turn feasible and dead man walk too. Yes, that the power of words!!Understanding this aspect of human behavior holds high importance at workplace. Mostly in heed of process orientation we at times lose some basic rules which we learnt as kids.

 

It's never too much: Many times we feel that too much appreciation might make one overconfident and hence can reduce the effectiveness. Well that could be one school of thought however personally I feel appreciation is highly addictive and one would strive to always achieve more of it. As long as it is genuine and the intention is motivate it will always go hand in hand with a feel good factor.

 

Don’t miss on the time: Appreciation which comes days after the job hardly helps. A pat on back might sound simple but one which comes on right time gives enough motivation. However most of the times Managers become highly competitive with expectation but equally conservative with appreciation. If what was promised, was delivered, then what could be harm in appreciating the attempt.

 

Don’t mix the two: Giving an appreciation with an extended ‘but’ can be really a spoil sport. Sometimes both positive and negative together can cause recency effect, where only negative is retained. If a feedback for improvement is required then give a time break. May be next day can be good at least till such time the one can bask in the glory of well deserved positive. Imagine you seeing a score card with a red line and A grades, what will impact you more?

 

Make it Public: Yes, that one thing I love and learned from my current organization, plugHR to appreciate in public. Not to tell you how that magnifies the effect of the entire process. It is only human to craves for social applause and no wonder why we all love being part of this online social world.

To sum up all let there be no regrets or explanations but simple yet timely appreciations which can motivate people to do more and ride more miles.

What does a CEO wants?

What does a CEO want?

An OREO!!

Read this to know why…

I recently went to a well known ice- cream parlor where my son wanted an ice-cream with an OREO topping .First I didn’t realized the reason why a simple cream biscuit would make a dessert add-on till I tasted and loved it. Now I exactly knew why the cute little girl in the TV commercial loves to dip it in milk and eat. But today when I saw OREO as coffee topping at one of the prominent coffee shop brands was just amazed on creative marketing and product positioning.

Wow, so OREO is something more than just a cream biscuit. No wonder I, my son and my mom we all love it and you thought cream biscuits are for kids .I would not be surprised if tomorrow we have OREO kheer being served at restaurants. Not a bad idea somebody should start it!!

OREO seems to be some multifaceted cookie...

Interestingly life at SME’s run in similar fashion. We have highly passionate CEO’s who have started organist ions from scratch and many times done all what it takes to run the show. Whether running for their first deal or fixing up the balance sheet and not to mention even receiving the customer complaints they have been hands on. Somebody so involved would not bother about the job role but one who can change hats and do multiple tasks is the man/woman he is looking for. An ideal fit would be an individual who understands the value and sticks to it throughout ,can be a good substitute whenever need arises and marketed well when business requires. Similar to our OREO which just gels so well with all those mouth watering flavours and still is a cream biscuit!!

Such employees eventually become integral part of the organization and the core team. What drives them is not the role or the job but that they living up the passion or value which they have created for themselves and organizations. Interestingly there vision is concurrent to organisations' growth and such individuals are highly self driven and stand out ,just like our favorite cookie.These employees are not bothered about their performance reviews and hikes but about whether they are taking the organization to height which they dreamt with the CEO.

Many times ideologies clash for not every employee is ready to take that owernership and neither is every CEO letting them unleash their true potential and then we just missed another employees’ company to roll out.

Whatsoever it might be every cookie is not an OREO and to be one you need to taste some!!

 

Future of Indian Workplace!!

 

‘A Virtual Assistant is required for start up based in Delhi’. Read the Ascent advertisement. 

‘Work from home based projects with an MNC’. Was posted on a popular job portal.

 

West had it long back and now Indian workplaces too are opening itself to the concept of Virtual Office. Though still in a primitive stage, but changing socio – economic factors will soon make Indian Industries adapt it as an extension of the mother office. 

This age being 3G age, its difficult to stay away from smart phones, PDA and other such savvy gadgets. Such being the environment, soon connectivity will not have any boundaries rather physical presence will become a limitation. Infact on the other hand organizations will have to strengthen there IT infrastructure in order to maintain such devices without compromising on security. A great cost saving strategy, virtual offices will provide great flexibility and independence to both employer and employee, hence a win-win. 

As a matter of fact, considering the ballooning pollution levels and carbon emissions, virtual working will lessen traveling in turn decreasing peak time traffics and helping us go green. Organizations too will have respite from keeping tracks on the timing and can focus on other employee motivating policies. Moreover, this can be a very handy tool in attracting female talent and therefore becoming a fair employer.  

Last but not least, this involves a great amount of honesty and integrity from the employee front and the Organizations have to be more creative and well equipped in maintaining such diversity. To cut it short, change is inevitable, sooner organizations adapt it better it is for all.