When we think about feedback to employees, supervisors, or even administration, we generally worry most about giving negative feedback. Often we ask how to do it, and especially how to do it well. Most of us do not have the same worry about giving positive feedback or praise.

Yet, studies show that 1) people do not give praise automatically, and 2) when they do give praise they don't necessarily do it in the most effective way. Praise is not just a topic for supervisors or even just for the work setting. I think you'll find these points will apply to any situation where your goal is to praise and reward someone. We often think of giving feedback as the manager's duty, but if we really mean what we say about teams, it is incredibly important that teams praise one another.

The first thing to remember about praise is it serves two functions; it acts as both a reward and as a motivator. Someone who keeps working away and never hears, "good job," gets less and less motivated to keep slogging. The second thing to remember is that praise, to be meaningful, needs to relate to the value of the person receiving praise, not just to the values of those giving praise.

Another point is to remember that while we recognize the need for praise when achieving a goal, we seldom recognize the need to praise the effort even if the goal is not attained.

Keeping this in mind, here are some effective ways of giving praise. One involves the timing of the praise. The closer the praise is in time to the activity, the more it acts to reward and motivate. For example, a "thank you, good job" six months after the fact when you are doing an evaluation will not have all the effect it would have immediately following the task. Second, the specificity of the praise is also important.

For instance, "good job with the parents" is not as specific or even helpful as "that was a great job you did handling Mr. X, the angry parent who came in about his child's bill. You managed to make him understand what our rules are without angering him further. You really got that worked out well. Thanks."

This specificity not only fulfills our two major purposes of thanking and rewarding but it also positively reinforces the behaviors that brought about the outcome that was beneficial. It also, of course, shows that you really are aware of how hard that person worked to bring about that goal.

Finally, the how and what of the praise must be individualized to the receiver. What I mean by that is some people love to receive public recognition with great hoopla and all the bells and whistles. Others would prefer to be privately told that they have done a good job (remember to make the praise specific).

Some people would like to be recognized with a tangible reward even if small, while others would feel that a reward with monetary value might detract from the selflessness with which they accomplished things. Some would like to be given the opportunity to teach others as a reward, and others would dislike it and feel it as a burden. It really becomes crucial to know your individuals as well as your team, in order to obtain full results from praising.

Finally, in order for praise to be effective as recognition, reward and gratitude, it must be sincere. If you would like to learn more about this topic please give us a call at 752-2727 or stop in and see one of our counselors at the Academic and Staff Assistance Program.

Sally Harvey is the director of the Academic and Staff Assistance Program. For more information, visit www.hr.ucdavis.edu/ASAP.