Some Praise for an Unexpected Email

Sometimes I just love being a blogger.  I love the fact that I can connect with someone I wouldn’t normally connect with and see that that what I’ve been communicating has resonated with an audience member. 

Case in point. 

My "office" is in Dayton, OH, but I normally work remotely from South Carolina.  I know – heck of a commute but just spend one February in Ohio and one in South Carolina and you’ll nod knowingly.  But on to the point…

I received an email from an employee of the company -  a person who works in our Mail/Shipping area.  Never met the guy (that I know of – but it’s possible some time back) but he sent me an email with a link to an article on the web.   Here’s the context of his email:

Good afternoon Paul,

In the
unlikely event you’ve not seen or been forwarded this by now, I thought that in
light of your blog, this might be of interest:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24293160/ 

The reason I love this is here’s a guy who is important to the ongoing success of the enterprise but isn’t client facing.  If he didn’t understand what the company did he could probably still meet expectations in his position.  But the fact that he actually subscribes to the blog – and sees something on the web that might pique my interest – and it does – shows me he’s an employee worth watching.

I find it refreshing when someone takes the effort to access everything the company offers and internalizes it and acts on it.  I also like the fact that he gets what I’m talking about.

The Article

The article referenced in his email is entitled:  "Praise is as good as cash to your brain"

What the article references is research conducted in Japan that showed through fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) that the same area of the brain that is stimulated when you receive cash (or a monetary reward) is activated when given praise .  In addition, the same reward center responds when someone comments positively on your "social standing."

What this indicates, is that in a very base level in our brains, we get the same boost from our "reward" center in our brain for praise and increased social standing as we do when we get other types of "hard" rewards.

Now, I don’t think this is the green-light to stop paying people and just start sending thank you notes instead of paychecks – but the implications for incentive and reward programs are varied.

Specifically, providing public standings of performance will "feel" like a tangible reward to people since it highlights their performance.  Sending kudos, and other notifications of praise can supplement any program and stimulate the recipients reward center, making them feel the same as if you sent a token gift.

From the article:

The fact that the social reward is biologically coded suggests that "the need to
belong … is essential for humans," said Sadato, whose study appears in the
journal Neuron.

So – think about paying your participants"pocketbooks with tangible rewards AND filling their biological pocketbook with praise.

Here’s to my buddy in the Mail Room – THANKS!  Keep’em coming!

PS:  I sent a note to his boss with a link to both the article and this post.  I do practice what I preach.