Positive feedback – especially right now!
With the current Covid-19 lockdown situation having a negative impact on mental health in general, it’s important to feel valued at work.
Positive feedback boosts employee confidence in themselves. This means staff are less uncertain about whether the work they’re doing is good enough. So they are more likely to just get on with the job and not keep asking questions!
When I was lab manager, I tried to give positive feedback to at least one person per day. If you are a supervisor of a small team, there isn’t a reason why you can’t find something positive to say to all your staff! Even if it’s just a compliment!
I know many think saying ‘thank you’ too often or giving praise too often can be seen as ‘fake’. But if it lifts someones spirits for the day, makes them feel good about themselves and smile a bit more, isn’t it worth it?
Say it like you mean it too. Be specific. Not just ‘well done’, but ‘that work you did today really helped a lot of people’. Or ‘thank you for noticing that error – it’s saved us so much time’.
I did a poll on LinkedIn. The results showed that 29% of people receive positive feedback less often than every 3 months! All of those voters work in the science industry. The majority of people receiving positive feedback every day (14%) or week (21%) work in the private sector and not in science at all. The most common response was ‘every 1-3 months’ (36%). Mostly scientists again. With the majority of diagnostic services relying on scientists, shouldn’t we be cheering them on?