While many healthcare leaders continue to view financial rewards as the ultimate motivators, tighter budgets are forcing them to explore other alternatives — and just as well. While cash bonuses will always be welcome, a simple “thank you” packs a much bigger punch than most leaders realize.

Mary Kay Ash, known for building Mary Kay Cosmetics from a small storefront operation to a multi-billion dollar global enterprise, once said: “There are two things people want more than sex and money…recognition and praise.”

A recent survey conducted by McKinsey & Company supports her views.

In the survey, executives, managers and employees reported that non-cash motivators were more effective motivators than financial incentives. And at the top of the list of motivators was “praise and commendation” from supervisors.

The fact is, psychological research has proven time and again that offering regular praise and appreciation is one of the most effective employee motivation strategies.

That’s why managers who regularly recognize and praise staff members for high performance, and even for dedicated effort, achieve higher levels of productivity, staff retention and staff satisfaction than those who don’t.

That’s also why they tend to wind up with stronger bottom-line performance as well.

Yet in the day-to-day rush of a clinical environment, it’s easy to either forget to recognize people or to offer only cursory and non-specific thanks.

To get the best results from praise and appreciation, you need to be as specific as possible.

People need to know why they are being praised, and what they did to earn the positive attention. When staff members are clear on why you are recognizing them, they are more likely to repeat the behavior you want.

The following article from Drs. Kevin & Jackie Freiberg, best-selling authors and sought-after speakers on leadership and employee engagement, offers 25 terrific “templates” for offering praise and recognition that you can easily adapt for your healthcare environment.

As you read the article, note how each statement is aimed at an individual.

General statements such as, “Good job everybody” are nice, but don’t pack the same motivational wallop.
 

25 Ways To Recognize People’s Contributions

 
Before you recognize someone stop and think about it for a minute. What competencies do you value? What attitudes do you look for? What results are you seeking? What were the critical factors in your success? How has this person demonstrated one or more of these things? The brain teasers listed below are intended to get you thinking creatively about recognizing your employees in an authentic and specific way. Remember that the people you report to need recognition too!

1. As I watched you handle that (customer, supplier, shareholder, etc.) today I was impressed by your ability to…
2. You are an extremely valuable member of the team because…
3. As I watched you lead the meeting today I realized how (smart, motivating, competent, fun, etc.) you are because…
4. You bring the kind of attitude and work ethic to our firm that inspires me because…
5. I see you running the (department, division, company, etc.) someday because…
6. I knew you could do it because…
7. You did a remarkable job because…
8. I’m proud of you because…
9. It’s clear that you are a quick study because…
10. Thanks for being “on top of it,” I have a lot of confidence in you because…
11. You have such a unique way of dealing with (people, details, technology, conflict, etc.) because…
12. You bring the right ingredients to this (project, company, team, etc.) because…
13. Thank you for speaking up; it took a lot of courage to…
14. Thank you. It was great to see you take responsibility for…
15. I like the way you were thinking and acting like an owner when you…
16. I admire your imagination and creativity because…
17. It’s exciting to work with you because…
18. I appreciated the way you listened so carefully before you…
19. You mean a lot to this (department, division, company, etc.) because…
20. I trust you because…
21. I like the way you collaborated with…
22. You make the rest of us laugh because…
23. I respect you because…
24. The best thing you did (in that meeting today, on that trip, on that proposal today, etc.) was…
25. You have a special knack for… For example…

By Dr. Kevin and Dr. Jackie Freiberg, world-class speakers, thought leaders, and authors of the best seller NUTS!, its sequel GUTS!, and recently BOOM! 7 Choices for Blowing the Doors Off Business-as-Usual. For more resources on improving your individual or business brand, visit our home page at http://www.freibergs.com or http://www.freibergs.com/cooltools/

And while hiring the right people to begin with is a big part of the equation, there’s a lot you can do right now to bring out the best in your people – regardless who they are, and regardless how they have performed in the past.

A great example of the power of management to motivate employees comes from Toyota.

In the early 1980’s, Toyota and General Motors partnered in a first-ever collaboration between the Japanese company and a major US automaker.

For Toyota it was a golden opportunity to establish operations in the US and to benefit from GMs vast
distribution network.

For GM it was a last-ditch effort to save a failing plant.

You see, the deal that GM offered Toyota was to take over the management of their Fremont California factory – the worst performing plant in the company. A plant with overhead costs 30% higher than GMs other plants, 20% worker absenteeism, frequent strikes, poor customer service ratings, and dismal sales.

Not only that, to close the deal Toyota had to agree to reemploy the same union employees who had performed so poorly for GM.

Yet despite these obstacles, Toyota agreed. And within 2 years the plant’s production had grown to twice the average of other GM factories, costs had decreased to 50% of average, worker absenteeism had fallen to 2%, and customer satisfaction ratings – and car sales – had increased significantly.

How did Toyota managers do it?

Not with a new factory or equipment. The old plant had remained virtually unchanged.
And not with new workers – 85% of the staff were rehires from the old factory.

Toyota managers accomplished the seemingly impossible with a highly effective management strategy.

They motivated these formerly disgruntled and unproductive employees by making them feel that their work was significant. They empowered employees to solve problems and make decisions. And they got employees at every level to actively participate in improving the factory’s operations.

You can use these same proven principles to motivate your staff to a higher level of performance.

Read more about Toyota’s strategy in this article (pdf) Motivating Sustained High Performance: Psychological Lessons From Toyota

You can learn the specifics of implementing these employee motivation strategies in your clinical practice in our new audio-seminar: A Profitable Practice Is Everyone’s Business: How to Maximize Staff Performance and Productivity For Increased Bottom-Line Results