Many of us know that positive feedback is important, and that a manager who gives out as much positive feedback as negative ( or 2:1) is going to get better motivated, happier people out of the deal. But how many of us actually do it?
I had a manager at one point who constantly felt under-appreciated and ill-used by her boss, the regional manager. He played managers off each other, by talking up the accomplishments of one to the other, and never said anything positive about you to your face. My manager was certainly able to recognize that he was doing a terrible job of increasing job satisfaction, engagement, and motivation, and felt his was a poor management style. Which it was, however, she failed to see that his lack of positive feedback was the same as hers to her staff.
During one conversation about the regional manager, where she was complaining about his lack of appreciation, we discussed the importance of positive feedback in the workplace and I asked her gently when the last time was that she had said something positive about any of her staff's work to that staff member? She was quite appalled to realize that, while she did say positive things, it was almost never to the employee directly. She'd say good things about someone, but very rarely to their faces.
If you want to be a better manager, make a point of saying positive things about your employees, and make sure the positives outweigh the negatives. Then make sure your positivity goes directly to the employee in question. It'll take conscious effort, because we are all much more used to negativity at work, but it'll pay off in terms of employee job satisfaction if they feel appreciated for what they do.
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