Do you praise people for doing a good job?

How many of you take the extra time to call someone's boss and let them know they did a good job?........ In this day and age of ________ service (you can fill in however bad of a term applies) it seems I am even more impressed when someone does something better than right the first time so I often call there boss and let them know...... yesterday I had a new furnace put in...... it is in a room next to my shop and that room also serves as storage for metal stock and hardware... so there is a lot of stuff in there and space is at a premium...... the guys that installed this took the extra time to run all the pipes and wires in the most compact and out of the way locations... took them about 10 hours X two guys...harder for them, better for me..... so I called their boss this morning and left a message about what a good crew he had and a job well done.

Is this something we should all do more often? or should we assume everybody should do good work and only complain about those that don't?.... after all you tip a taxi driver or waitress even with questionable service so maybe the least one can do is give Kudos for a mechanical type job well done......

I totally agree. Many situations I write the boss a letter praising there company and workers. I use nice paper in case they want to frame it or whatever. The next time I use them the service is even better. So we both end up benefiting.

yes, I try to do it, when I forget and look back at a situation, I realize that the doer might had been disappointed that had not received the praise. Problem is, once you start, the receivers of praise expect everytime the do something good! Since so many do not offer praise, it becomes a valuble coin, that costs the giver nothing.
Rivett, good posting..

Yes... absouletly...... IF I see a maintenance worker, cafeteria person or desk help that does a good job or even does their job day in and day out,
I send a email to their Boss telling them what it is I have noticed and asking them to tell the employee that I sure appreciate their good work. And Co-workers I tell them as often as I can thay are doing a great job. People need it to hear you are doing great when they are it means alot. But the gladhanders that do it to build up points to use later, people see right thru this.-matt

I used to, but my wife kicked me when I inserted the word "doggy".

I thank people. Not a big "you guys are great" type of person.

I also dont tip for mediocre service...or at least not the full amount. My tip runs from 0 - 50%...and I literally use the entire range.

Yes, I do -- I think it is important to call attention to unusually good service. I also try to take the time to say "thank you" to people who are serving me (restaurant, grocery store, etc.). May not be anything out of the ordinary that they are doing, but saying thank you is a nice way to encourage them to keep on doing the job well.

I do this when I feel it is warranted. For instance, I wrote a long winded letter to the HR department at Praxair for the exceptional service I receive(d) at a local Praxair location. Long story short they helped me MANY times in a pinch.
WOrd got back to the store that I was the one responsible for a "attaboy" and they give me a store discount everytime I am there! I was not looking for anything in return, but rather just letting the higher ups know the little guy is making them the coin.
I think they got a decent eval that year
Besides, it will make you feel better knowing you made someone's day.

BTW, always point to a specific instance in which you are thanking or praising someone. Sometimes folks that don't take well to compliments or shrug them off will find themself HAVING to accept the compliment because of the specifics mentioned.

GREAT topic!!

--Grant

I try to always say thank you for service, and if someone takes the extra step I try to recognize that fact. Often however, in the heat of "battle" I forget or overlook things that I SHOULD be noticing. As far as employees, I have worked for managers/owners who can find something wrong with ANYTHING, and blame the employees for EVERYTHING. In this area, I also try to give an "attaboy" (showin' my age) when quality on a job is good, or a worker makes good time on a project, or has some good input in the shop that shows he is thinking and gives a crap. I also try to drag my guys out to lunch at least once a month, and/or have a pizza party after a particularly rough job leaves. I think these kinds of things are worth a lot, because it also shows, I hope, that somebody actually gives a hoot about their workers and not just $$$$$$$$$$$$.

I consider it to be part of my job to write at least two
or three of those praise messages per year.

Stuff around here is degrading fast enough that it's
never a tough job finding somebody who's desperately trying
to stem the tide, and thank them officially for doing so.

Jim

I got some myself yesterday for re-building some tooling that one production department "lost" for the second time in two months.

I think giving a praise for the good employes carry's more weight than a complaint about bad ones. The boss usually lets them know, and they have more pep in their step for weeks because of it. A complaint, well, its just negativity, and thats bad energy. Bad energy is more chaotic and draining, so i only issue a complaint, if i think its realy a problem person.

"A little OT: call centers"
I most often complain to tec support people of "you name it" calling centers. The major complaint i have is not against the employee realy, but the concept of offering a service to your english speaking customers by people who dont speak english, and could probably barely speak enough to catch a taxi in most major city's. Millions of Indian, Chinese, and Mexican peasants are at the other end of every call center phone these days, and i still dont see how they get by with such a business plan. You mark your company like a underwear crotch stain when you use these people, so why do it to save a buck, when you lost two bucks from me on any future business.

Yesterday, i purposely drug it out with a gal from Panama. I had her frustrated and and panicing because i refused to be her english teacher for the day. I wasted an extra hour of that company's time because of the language barrier, and the issue still wasnt resolved at the end.

Don't mistake me, im not complaining about peasants, or foreign people here, ill do that in another forum. Im just ranting bout the idea of using them for such a service. I dont want my dentist to change my oil, and i dont want my mechanic to do my route canal. So GIVE ME SOMEONE who SPEAKS my language, if you want me to buy your product. English is the international business language, so im sticking with it! You should TOO!

On the receiving end I come from a long line of stoic German and Scandinavian farmers so I find it odd to get praise for doing a good job. The bare minimum expectation was to work hard and smart. When we moved the shop at my last job, the owner complemented me on keeping the new shop clean. I appreciated the sentiment but couldn't help thinking why does keeping the shop clean stand out.

As far as employees go, when they do a good job I tell them. When mistakes are made or directions aren't followed, we look at the cause and effect. I then indicate without yelling ( but sternly) that I don't want the mistake repeated and we all go about our merry business. If the rest of the day goes smoothly I get to keep my sanity for yet another day.

Absolutely!
When someone goes the extra mile I make sure that their boss knows.
Most of us have days full of negatives. That is what we get for being problem solvers. It is a bright spot in my day when I have a good experience with a job well done. Weather it is someone internal or from the outside, if I get that feeling then I make sure someone else does too.

I also use Snowman's tip schedule.

I work in a refinery and was directing a crew of 3 contractor employees doing an old line demo job in an active unit. They were using a pneumatic reciprocating saw to cut 4 inch pipe that I had recently purged and released for demo.
Much of the demo required work up in the overhead racks with harnesses and fall lines.
Gas , Diesel, Butane, Superheated Steam, Asbestos...It's all up there.
After 3 days I had a pretty good level of trust in the lead man and saw that his helpers were competent. The 4th day the lead didn't show up so I gave the 2 helpers some jobs to cut on the ground level and kept visiting the area to keep tabs on things. One guy took the initiative and got all my requests done by taking lead and working the other to their best advantage. He then got an overhead line cut as well. I was happy and informed their Foreman about the days great results and even brought them burritos for breakfast Friday morning. Saturday nobody was there for that job so I assumed the contractor had them elsewhere. It was rainy that day.
Monday all three guys showed up, but the 2 helpers said they were in trouble for missing Saturday. They had missed their bus and waited for another in the rain but it didn't come.
10 contractor guys were out that Saturday. 8 spent the night in jail after a warrant check by the local PD outside a Hooters. They kept their jobs because they couldn't call from jail. The 2 guys I had praised for their work were fired for missing the bus and not calling in.
My praise had done them no good with management, but I don't ever regret having given the
guys my appreciation for a job well done.

I get a lot of stampings to machine , and one part has a front and back side . We used to have to pick them all out and restack them all the same way before running them in the lathe .
One time the suppliers employees got the idea of stacking them all the same way as they came off the punch press . Saved me a bunch of time crouching down . So I sent them an email thanking them for the professional service . Now they always come stacked that way , and I do the same after they're machined , so the guys in assembly have one less step too.
FBB

I do it whenever it is warranted.

But you want to watch out........

Once I found out that after I had mentioned some "better then expected" work, the people in question got CHEWED OUT and docked for it. Apparently they were only supposed to do "X", and for doing a bit better, they (supposedly) took more time than they should have.......... No good deed goes unpunished.

So now I am careful how I word any such "praise".

I won't ever deal with that outfit again...... and they still don't know why, 'cause I refuse to tell them.

Praise is the same as respect. If I see a job well done, a quality job completed faster than expected or just service out of the ordinary, I mention it.

A while back I stopped in a fast food place and bought a quick lunch. I had a pocket full of change, mostly pennies and unloaded them on the high school age cashiere. I laid them on the counter and started counting them out.
When I was done, the girl immediately scooped them into the change drawer; I asked why she had not counted them and she said, "I did; as you counted them". I asked for the manager and told him he had a "prize" with that employee.
Another time I tipped a window worker at McD's for cheery, outstanding service at 6AM on a cold Iowa morning.-Jerald

Monday all three guys showed up, but the 2 helpers said they were in trouble for missing Saturday. They had missed their bus and waited for another in the rain but it didn't come.
10 contractor guys were out that Saturday. 8 spent the night in jail after a warrant check by the local PD outside a Hooters. They kept their jobs because they couldn't call from jail. The 2 guys I had praised for their work were fired for missing the bus and not calling in.

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WOW. That's stunningly bad management. "Hey, let's keep the criminal losers, but ditch the guys that work hard because they had some bad luck." That's not the kind of company that I'd reward with repeat business.

Regarding expressing thanks, I think it's so much easier to b!tch and complain, probably some flaw in human nature, than it is to praise. It's much more noble to thank someone who does you right than it is to complain.

I try to express my thanks to people, and I always try to include "I appreciate your extra effort to do X, Y, and Z for me." Just saying thanks sounds like ordinary manners, but saying you appreciate something sort of gets the message across better, IMHO. I'm not much of a letter writer, for good or bad.

One of my favourite sayings:-

"Credit where it's due"

I always try and do it when i'm pleased with that little bit of extra effort that's put in sometimes.

Dave