Praise is often given to groups of people in recognition of
a group achievement. This is a good thing. When we've all
pulled together to meet an objective, that recognition
helps extend the "feel good" moment that comes with
achievement.
Unfortunately, individuals within the group can be left
feeling anonymous, not sure that their individual
contribution has been noticed.
A number of years ago, the Vice President of Marketing
asked me to help him write a speech. Our company, a major
energy corporation, had been sold, which resulted in some
substantial internal changes. Consequently, our department
was being disbanded, and the people dispersed to different
departments and functions. The speech was to be made at the
end of a special dinner in honour of us all.
In talking of some of our major accomplishments, he was
hesitant to mention the individuals who had clearly made
huge contributions, for fear of disappointing those who
were omitted. I pointed out that there were just over
thirty people in the whole department; instead of
mentioning no names at all, why not mention everyone by
name? So here's what we did.
First, we listed the major projects he would be mentioning,
with the leader's name and a list of team members. Then we
looked at the complete staff list to see who had not
already been mentioned. As he talked about each project, he
worked in the names of all the team members. Then he
reminded us that there was more to our department's work
than individual projects, and that each of us had made an
important contribution over the years --- and that's when
he incorporated all the other individuals' names.
His speech was greeted with loud applause, and many people
had tears in their eyes as their names were mentioned. To
be mentioned in the same context as those who always seem
to get the credit can do wonders for people's self-esteem.
When your group is smaller, it's easy to compliment
everyone by name. Simply say, "The new software rollout
went off without a hitch. I want to thank each one of you
--- Andrea, Tom, Ricardo, Jennifer and Ali --- for your
hard work and enthusiasm. I appreciate the contributions
made by each of you to the success of the project." More
junior members of the team will be delighted to be included.
As human resources professionals know, what's rewarded is
repeated. Individual praise by name is more of a reward
than we realize, and will often encourage people to give
even greater efforts to future projects.
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Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker and author,
specializing in workplace communication. Subscribe to her
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