The Power of Reinforcing Feedback

By Juan Riboldi

Reinforcing feedback tells us that what we are doing is working well. We just need to keep doing it!

We experience reinforcing feedback as words of affirmation, encouragement, praise, or recognition. All these forms of verbal reinforcement are powerful motivators that boost morale and improve results. An excellent performance review, a bonus, or a promotion represent tangible signs of reinforcing feedback.

Power of Reinforcing Feedback

Reinforcing feedback has a strong positive influence on behavior. Most of us like to hear compliments and feel recognized. Reinforcing feedback will encourage us to do what we did more often, and better.

Think about the type of feedback you receive every day at work. How much reinforcing feedback do you regularly receive from others? The answer to this question has a direct impact on your motivation at work. Now, consider what would happen if we were to drastically increase the proportion of reinforcing feedback? Let's say that we were to experience reinforcing feedback about 80% of the time. What do you anticipate would happen? You would likely experience higher commitment and increased engagement.

Conversely, imagine what would happen to a group when they start focusing on the things that are going wrong. Consider the case of a worker that frequently hears from his manager when things go wrong, seldom hearing a word of appreciation for everyday accomplishments. A lack of reinforcing feedback kills the morale and motivation of the team.

Increase the proportion of reinforcing feedback and morale increases, employees are more engaged, quality improves, productivity goes up, customers are more satisfied, and the team performs better.

Focusing on what is right has a powerful effect. Recognition is contagious, as it creates a buzz for success. Reinforcing what is right tends to produce more of it. It costs nothing and takes little time, yet the impact of focusing on what is right attracts success.

Negative Effects?

Some people may reason that that too much optimism is unfounded or insincere. After all, work is not supposed to be a "love fest." Some may legitimately ask: What if things are not going well? What if the praise is not sincere? What if I recognize people just for doing their jobs and they grow to expect praise for it? What if I give it, but never receive it back in return?

Real World Example

The following story provides an example of how reinforcing feedback can be effective in even the most difficult situations. Years ago, I worked as a coach with a manufacturing plant manager named Steve (name changed) who stepped into a money-losing operation needing a turnaround. Workers were demoralized and hostile to management. Rumors of closing the plant fueled distrust and low performance.

Steve's first task was to lay off some of his assistant managers and make many unpopular changes. He encountered resistance and excuses for change with firm and assertive opposition. There were days that nothing seemed to be going right. One of those days he said to me, "I have to be the ugly boss (he used other words), so how can I build morale in this environment?"

I suggested he continued to be firm and strict about the changes that needed to happen, and at the same time be nice, positive, and respectful. I challenged him, "You can be both firm and nice, can't you?" He realized, at least intellectually, that being firm and nice are not mutually exclusive. Then he asked, "What if I can't find anything to be positive about?"

"Let's find it any way we can!" I said. We decided to try an experiment for one month- a daily dose of positive reinforcement. Every day at 11:00 am Steve would stop was he was doing and walk around the floor right before the lunch break with the sole purpose of congratulating others for anything that was going right; anything at all, even if it was minimal.

On the first day of the experiment, Steve praised an operator for wearing his safety gear while operating a dangerous machine. He also smiled at others as he walked around. That was it. By the third day he was able to point out at least three things deserving sincere recognition. He was also pleased to notice some workers making eye contact with him and even smiling back. By the end of the month, the daily dose of recognition was having a noticeable impact. Steve was able to point out at least ten things going well each day, including important cost saving measures and record production quotas.

Personal Impact

Despite errors and mistakes, there are always things going right. We need not be insincere in our praise. As we give frequent, specific, and sincere recognition to others we will experience a change for the better in our lives as well. We will feel more positive about our own performance and be able to focus more readily on what is going well. In turn, others may respond better to our requests as they feel more appreciated and secure. Trust and cooperation increases and new levels of achievement are then possible. There is great power in positive reinforcement!

What can we do to give more reinforcing feedback?

1. Catch People Doing What's Right

We can develop the habit of looking for what's right and pointing it out. Find people doing great work and reaffirm them. Every day, pay a compliment to someone at work for something they did well.

2. Speak Words of Affirmation

Listen to your words before you speak and, if necessary, rephrase the message in a positive way. If you catch yourself about to say something critical, you can rephrase your thoughts so you actually provide reinforcing feedback instead. For example, instead of jokingly saying, "Not a bad job!," you will get better results by simply saying "Great work!" Or, instead of saying, "You need to stop spending so much money," you can reinforce by saying, "Let's find ways to save more to strengthen our financial situation."

3. Recognize the Value of Work Itself

Find ways to reward good behavior by recognizing the fruits of that behavior. That will teach the true value of doing a good job. For example, after someone delivers a report to you on time and without errors, you can take a few minutes to thank the person and describe how the report was used, and the impact of the information when you presented it at a meeting. Simple words of reinforcing feedback mean more than we realize.

Research on Recognition

Our research shows that out of twenty factors that drive employee engagement, recognition (reinforcing feedback) is a top-five driver of overall engagement. Yet, recognition is consistently the lowest scoring factor. There is clear need for improvement when it comes to recognition at work.

Interestingly, in terms of overall engagement, recognition shows up as one of the key differentiators between the very best and the worst organizations. For example, as many as 83% of the employees give favorable scores to recognition in the best organizations, compared with only 39% of the employees at the worst organizations. When it comes to engaging employees, there is a 44% difference in recognition between the best and worst organizations.

We can all give reinforcing feedback more often. Positive reinforcement creates positive thoughts, actions, and outcomes. As we practice thinking and talking in ways that reinforce what is right, we will achieve better results faster.

Juan Riboldi

To find more articles on leadership development and talent management visit our website at: http://www.decwise.com

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