I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel underappreciated. In my head, I know that’s silly. Several of my coworkers are great about letting me know that I make a difference. Even when I do a small chore at home, my wife almost always says thank you. Of course, it may be that she’s shocked that I did it. ( Old joke: Why do you see Men At Work signs? Because nobody would be surprised by women at work.)

When I’m at work, there is one thing I can do if I really want to surprise someone. All I have to do is walk up to them and say two little words. “Good job”. Or “Well done”. And I don’t think that is unique to my workplace. Even the worst employee at any job isn’t screwing up for a full 8 hour shift. There will be something positive to pull out their performance. But so few people look for it.

At my workplace, I’m at the lowest level of supervision we have. There are about 84 levels of management above me and below me are the people who actually do the work. Part of my job is to make sure they are doing their job well. Unfortunately, we often turn that around. We start thinking it’s our job to spot when they aren’t doing their job well. But if I’m standing there watching my coworkers all day, I should be able to spot a couple of times when they’re doing it right. Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, authors of The One Minute Manager, claim that it is important for a manager to look for opportunities to tell an employee that they caught him doing his job well. Especially when the employee is new, find something to praise.

We all like praise and affirmation. I heard this story from several psychology professors at university, so I think it might be true. A professor was teaching a class on behaviour modification. So the class decided to experiment on the professor. When the professor stood on the left side of the room, everyone was quiet and attentive. When he stood on the right, people would start talking, books would fall off the desks, or perhaps someone would get up and go to the washroom. By the end of the semester, the professor spent almost the entire class leaning on the left wall. When the class told him what they had done, he refused to believe it. He claimed he had always taught from that spot.

You know the old phrase “Everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” Well, this isn’t the weather. We can do something about it. Even if you aren’t in charge of something, tell someone that you caught them doing a good job. When someone does something nice, say thank you. Tell a friend or co-worker that they made your day better today. Be specific. Tell them exactly what it was. Help them to know what to repeat. They will feel better and so will you. If we all thank two extra people every day, who knows what can happen.