The Sykes Group's OnPoint

National Nurses Week is May 6-12th.  It is a time to reflect and appreciate the hard-working nurses who are taking care of our friends and loved ones everyday.

They are working long hours and tending to the special needs of the patients everyday.  The following article will increase your awareness of nurses and give you motivation tips to help them keep going during difficult times:

Have You Appreciated Someone Today? Subtle Motivation that Gets High Impact Results

I invested some time with Mother recently and drove her to the hospital to visit with her sick sister-in-law, my aunt. While I was standing in the doorway, a nurse came by and introduced herself as Ruth and said “hello” to us and said “hello” to my aunt. This put a smile on my aunt’s face. The nurse then introduced me to the other nurses working at the nurses’ station. She let me know that these nurses are hard working and good at their jobs.

I couldn’t agree with her more. Theirs is a very difficult job with no margin for error. In many situations they know and understand the patients better than the doctors.

Realizing this, and noticing that some of the nurses looked a little tired, I asked Ruth to bring out all the nurses she had introduced me to at the nurses’ station. I reintroduced myself and explained that my aunt was the patient in room 518. Then I said the following:

“I would like to thank you for taking care of my aunt. I personally appreciate the way you make her comfortable during this difficult time, and I know that my aunt is in good hands. My family, and especially my uncle, appreciates the hard work and care you put into making her better. Thank you again and keep doing what you are doing to make a difference with not only my family, but other families.”

Well, you should have seen the looks on the nurses’ faces. First, they had a look of surprise. Then they were all smiling from ear to ear. Several faces turned red. But all of them had a look of appreciation as they said, “Thank you.”

Why did they have a surprised look on their faces? Was this the first time someone other than another nurse had acknowledged them? When was the last time someone showed appreciation to them?

It only took fifteen seconds to put a smile on their faces and have them feel good about themselves. Take the time every day to appreciate your employees, your family, and other people that are doing a good job. It might be the only appreciation they receive and will make a difference in their day.

Read my article, Appreciate to Motivate, to find out how to make your appreciation count every time. You will also feel good doing it.

Happy National Nurses Week!

“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I may not forget you.” -  William Arthur

Why don’t more managers, owners, and employees give appreciation? Some people state they don’t know how to give appreciation. Others don’t know what to give appreciation for in the work environment. Yet others say they are too busy to give appreciation.

I think this is the biggest sin of managers, being too busy to motivate their employees and give appreciation for a good job well done. Remember what the old transmission commercials used to say, “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Well, that is what giving appreciation is about. You can invest in your employees now and “pay” them with sincere appreciation and achieve even better performance. Or you will “pay” later by seeing your team’s performance sink, corrective actions and coachings increase, and overall morale decrease.

The following are five motivation tips to giving sincere appreciation that will motivate your team to soar to a higher level and achieve more:

1. Be Specific - In order to get the same behavior or action again, you need to let the employee know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating. For example, the typical appreciation attempt sounds like this:

Manager:  ”Mike, you did a great job earlier today. Keep up the good work!”

Mike:  ”Thanks.” (Mike is thinking what is he complimenting me on?)

 The correct way:

Manager:   “Mike, you did a great job on the report earlier today. I can see you invested a lot of time on the report by the detail you put in it. I really appreciate the effort. Thank you.”

Mike:  ”I appreciate you noticed the time I put into the report. Thanks.”  (Mike is thinking the manager really did read it and appreciates his effort. I will be glad to do it again.)

As you can see, the employee has a clear understanding of what action the manager is showing appreciation for and he is motivated to take on the project again.

To read the rest the the appreciate to motivate article, go to Appreciate to Motivate.

The man who makes a success of an important venture never wails for the crowd. He strikes out for himself. It takes nerve, it takes a great lot of grit; but the man that succeeds has both. Anyone can fail. The public admires the man who has enough confidence in himself to take a chance. These chances are the main things after all. The man who tries to succeed must expect to be criticized. Nothing important was ever done but the greater number consulted previously doubted the possibility. Success is the accomplishment of that which most people think can’t be done. – C. V. White

January 24th is National Compliment Day! Take the time today to show your appreciation to a team member, manager, friend, or family member and give a compliment. You never know how a compliment could make or break the other person’s day and motivate your team or organization to achieve success in this very competitive environment.

 performance sink, corrective actions and coachings increase, and overall morale decrease.

    The following are five motivation tips to giving sincere appreciation that will motivate your team to soar to a higher level and achieve more:

1. Be Specific – In order to get the same behavior or action again, you need to let the employee know exactly what action(s) you are appreciating.  For example, the typical appreciation attempt sounds like this: 

Manager:  “Mike, you did a great job earlier today.  Keep up the good work!”

Mike:  ”Thanks.” (Mike is thinking what is he complimenting me on?  

The correct way:

 Manager:  “Mike, you did a great job on the report earlier today.  I can see you invested a lot of time on the report by the detail you put in it.  I really appreciate the effort.  Thank you.”

Mike:  “I appreciate you noticed the time I put into the report.  Thanks.”  (Mike is thinking the manager really did read it and appreciates his effort.  I will be glad to do it again.) 

    As you can see, the employee has a clear understanding of what action the manager is showing appreciation for and he is motivated to take on the project again.

1. Be Timely – Make sure you show appreciation as soon as possible for the action you appreciate.  The further the distance in time between the appreciation and the action the less impact it will have to motivate the employee.

Manager:  “Mike, the report you submitted six months ago was great.  Keep up the good work.  Thanks!”

Mike:  “Thanks, I think.  What report are you taking about?”

    Always find the time to show appreciation in a timely manner.  Even if you need to drop something else, take time to appreciate your employees and co-workers.

To learn the rest of the motivation secrets and learn how to appreciate your employees, to Appreciate to Motivate.