Good job! Thanks, I appreciate what you did. Wow, that must have taken a lot of work- I appreciate it. I acknowledge you for doing that. ……

In my experience, it is knowing you did a good job, that someone appreciated what you did. It feels good to know you made a difference. Even when you did not get what you wanted to get, if someone appreciates your effort, and tells you so, it goes a long way to having you improve and accomplish what you set out to accomplish.

There are numerous studies that show when someone is acknowledged they respond by working harder. Behavioral Economist Dan Ariely shared about one such study where he gave study participants a simple exercise and then when they turned the exercise into the experimenter they either got a response of a verbal acknowledgement, ignored, or their work shredded in front of them.  The result was the group that received a verbal acknowledgment  were willing to perform more and for less money. He said, “Ignoring the performance of people is almost as bad as shredding their effort before their eyes,” Ariely says. “The good news is that adding motivation doesn’t seem to be so difficult. The bad news is that eliminating motivation seems to be incredibly easy, and if we don’t think about it carefully, we might overdo it.”

It is very simple to find something to acknowledge people for. The secret is- do it.

And when they are under-performing, find what they did do well or appreciate the effort and then give them constructive feedback. It works like magic!