Mary Kay Ash urged managers to "praise people to success."
An interesting thing about praise? People love it. There may not be a better motivator among the numerous tools we use to encourage our people.
This powerful tool can be used as both a bullseye and an arrow at the same time. Your praise is the arrow that rewards a person for the execution of the expected results. The way they got there is another powerful way to reinforce what it is you want from your people.
When all is said and done, praise is a reinforcer of desired results or attitudes among our people.
While there are numerous ways of doing it, at Mary Kay Cosmetics, it was part of the business culture. Not only did they have their yearly celebration conference, but the key was in how she says it was a climax of the whole year; and it was. Throughout the entire year she would make sure her consultants received recognition through what seemed an endless stream of prizes sent to their homes, always receiving a card on their birthday and for the top performers being listed in the Mary Kay monthly magazine called appropriately "Applause."
Mary Kay described it like this: "Every August we have what we call Seminar. It's a grand party, three days of spectacle - part beauty pageant and part Academy Awards night. It's the climax to a whole year of Mary Kay enthusiasm."
It wasn't a one-time hoopla event that was a disconnect from the rest of the year, rather a build up of a series of numerous small events that culminated in the finale in August.
The point is that it was real. It wasn't that feeble occasional "appreciation dinner" thing that workers know isn't real. Praising people to success was a great mantra and reality in Mary Kay. Her devotion to helping women succeed was extraordinary, and praising them there was one of the keys to Mary Kay Cosmetics becoming a success along with them.
Give your people what they need and want, and they'll give you what you want. Rewarding them with praise is one of the ways to get there.
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