24 Jun Happiness is in praise and words, not necessarily in pay and possessions
Want to know the best way to build positive relationships, at work and at home?
An article published recently in The Australian reminded me of what we've known for quite a long, long time…that praise beats pay in terms of retaining staff in the workplace.
You can read the full article HERE but in short, the findings are pretty well summed up in the first few paragraphs…
MEANINGFUL praise goes a long way in retaining staff. More than 80 per cent of Australian administrative professionals feel motivated by a sense of accomplishment, according to a survey of 540 staff conducted by OfficeTeam, a division of Robert Half International.
Opportunities for advancement (67 per cent) and monetary rewards (63 per cent) take the second and third place as motivating factors.
"This should come as good news to employers who can incentivise and retain talented staff members without necessarily having to increase their overheads," says OfficeTeam associate director Stephen Langhammer.
"All too often busy employers forget some of the basic rules of people management, such as recognising their employees' output."
Now what's particularly interesting is that the same basic principle is true when considering other relationships. Positive parenting, for example, is built on attention and intention rather than bribery with baubles! Happiness created via positive relationships will come mostly from enthusiastic and encouraging interactions rather than deals made with devils.
So what's the lesson?
Well we know, most importantly, that real and meaningful happiness involves building and fostering good quality relationships (in all areas of our lives – e.g. work and home and social and more). And what this research reminds us of is that these relationships should be built on positive reinforcement and thoughtfulness and praise and compassion…not the latest toy or even a few more dollars!
So think about the various relationships in your life and particularly, those people who you'd consider "significant others" and ask yourself…
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how can you better and more often catch them when they're doing things right
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how can you more often express your appreciation and gratitude
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where and when can you appropriately tell these people you love and care for them
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and how can you devote more time within interactions to supporting and encouraging them and their good deeds rather than some goal and/or reward
As always, I hope this makes sense and more importantly, I hope you can find ways to put this into practice in your lives. If so, let us know how you intend to do so by sharing on our Facebook Page HERE. Thanks in advance…