New study confirms that positive feedback increases performance

Thumbs upYet another study confirms what we all know: Giving employees positive feedback leads to more happiness at work, less stress and better performance:

In the study, participants… were asked to solve problems. Approximately half of the participants were told to ask friends and family members to send them an email just prior to their participation that described a time when the participant was at his or her best.

Overwhelmingly, those who read positive statements about their past actions were more creative in their approach, more successful at problem-solving and less stressed out than their counterparts.

For instance, participants had three minutes to complete Duncker’s candle problem. Fifty-one percent who had read emails prior to the task were able to successfully complete it; only 19% of those who did not receive “best-self activation” emails were able to solve it.

Those who received praise were also significantly less stressed than the control group.

(source).

Which is kinda sad, when we know how many employees feel under-appreciated.

In our recent study of what makes people unhappy at work, a lack of praise and recognition was one of the major causes. 37% of participants in our survey mentioned it as something that made them unhappy at work.

So get praisin’. Positive feedback takes no time and costs no money. It does require you to actually pay attention to other people and be able to see their good work and positive qualities. But if we can’t even do that, there is something more fundamentally wrong.

3 thoughts on “New study confirms that positive feedback increases performance”

  1. Such a simple way to show your appreciation for the hard work everyone is putting in. Imagine if there were 3 compliments to every criticism. . .

  2. “What we all know” but need to remind managers and executives every now and then. Every body loves being appreciated, on and off work. It’s just the way we work.

  3. Positive feedback = key! A study in The Netherlands even concluded that workers think appreciation for their work is even more important than their salary.

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