Good Job, Well Done!

 

Boss: “Good job, well done!”

Employee: “Dear Boss, don’t we deserve something better than these bland and over-clichéd compliments?”

I am not sure about you, but I have received a lot of these craps since my first job and, to be honest, I was responsible for sending out a handful of them too. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong to praise or encourage someone after he or she has done something great. In fact, you often need to do that to keep people motivated. The objective is good. It is what being said that ruins the game. With all due respect, I think it is pure laziness or simply ignorant of the situation that causes bosses to send out such unimpressive compliments. Imagine how the employees would feel when they have already received the same “well done” the N number of times. Some would have just moved on without thinking too much on these tasteless words, while there are those who would have taken it with a pinch of salt and doubted the sincerity of the act. For the worst of it, some might have even taken it as an insult for the hard work they have put in. I have a colleague that once asked me – “If everyone keeps telling me that I have been doing a wonderful job out there, then why ain’t I getting my well-deserved promotion?”

I have to agree with my colleague. In fact, we have to be more cautious and sensitive when we are giving our compliments and feedback as our team deserves it. Don't do it for the sake of doing it. The problem with many of us is we are too busy (a bad excuse for being lazy) and tend to take whatever convenient as a quick response without giving much thought on the repercussion. We keep doing this so often that it has become a bad habit unknowingly. Fair enough, people will just become immune and don’t give a damn when they have had enough of those craps. I believe people will feel more appreciated if we are a little bit more specific and elaborative in our feedback. For example, instead of just saying “Well done!” plainly, we could try saying “You have done a marvelous job in cutting down the cost by 20% and yet, able to complete the project in time without overworking the team.” See the difference? Be more appreciative with what the team has done for you. A little retouch on the feedback like the previous example works magic. It not only shows your gratitude sincerely, but also helps the person to know exactly what he or she has done well.

Another interesting pattern that I have observed is people like to be the ‘good guy’ or ‘Mr. Nice’. We enjoy being ‘accepted’ and being ‘liked’ at work. Who’s not? As a result, we tend to only talk about the good things that people have done but reluctant to point out their faults (office politics is an exception). This is not healthy. A good and balanced feedback should consist of both positive and negative elements that help to reinforce our learning. As much as we would like to praise people, we should also provide constructive advices on what they have done wrong and how they could do better. This is exactly what we should do in the project closure meeting. As Matthew Syed, the author of “Bounce”, wrote – “We need to know where we are going wrong if we are going to improve… Feedback is, in effect, the rocket fuel that propels the acquisition of knowledge, and without it no amount of practice is going to get you there.” So make it a point that you will remember to be ‘negative’ in order to be constructive when you are giving your feedback to someone next time.

To those leaders and bosses out there, if you are still sending out crappy compliments, then here is the good news – “Good job, well done and you are not the only one.”