
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 9, 1994                   TAG: 9409090072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

GIVE 'EM PRAISE, NOT A RAISE, SURVEY SAYS

Ever since civilization removed the threat of death or starvation for people who did not work hard, managers have been arguing fiercely over how to motivate them. More pay? Sweet words? Company picnics?

A new survey by Robert Half International, a giant staffing services firm, suggests money has lost its impact. Companies are in danger of losing good workers, the survey said, if they do not learn to nourish egos with warm adjectives and admiring nouns.

The poll of 150 executives from the nation's 1,000 largest companies found the single most common reason employees left was lack of recognition and praise. Thirty-four percent gave that as the reason for losing workers, compared with 29 percent who cited low compensation, 13 percent who blamed limited authority and 8 percent who mentioned personality conflicts.

``Companies that believe money is an employee's sole motivation for working are destined to lose some of their best people,'' said Half, the firm's founder. ``Praising accomplishments provides psychological rewards that are critical to satisfaction in any professional setting.''

Lynn Taylor, a vice president at Half, said managers often think they are praising workers more often than they actually do, and are far more likely to make negative than positive comments.

Grunting ``nice job'' in the elevator is not a sufficient solution, she said. ``They should do it in public, in front of other people as much as possible,'' Taylor said. ``They should do it frequently, but not to the point where it is insincere.''

by CNB