Today I'm taking my dog Fiona to obedience class. The class focuses on teaching positive reinforcement techniques. The Fuzzy Fi is extremely food-motivated, so she's having an extremely good time. (If you're a Facebook friend, check out the photo and you'll see what I mean!)
We all talk about positive reinforcement for training dogs, but the same concept can be applied to people. In fact, at my class, the instructor and her assistants gave out little raffle tickets when they saw the human students doing something right with their dogs. Then there was a raffle for fun pet prizes at the end of the class.
Amidst the stress of the day-to-day business of running a shelter or rescue, positively reinforcing great behavior in humans is often overlooked. Have you positively reinforced any of these people lately?
1. Your staff. Has someone gone above and beyond the call of duty? Maybe she spent some extra time with a shy, timid dog or answered questions from a prospective adopter, even though it's not technically in her "job description." People often think of rewarding employees with money, but you have many other options. For example, you can positively reinforce great employees by giving them things like a long lunch hour or a free day off, which don't really cost you anything, except time.
2. Your volunteers. One of the biggest reasons people stop volunteering is that they no longer feel appreciated or feel like what they are doing isn't making any difference. When a volunteer does something great, doing something simple like writing a thank you note or bringing her some flowers from your garden can make the volunteer feel that her efforts are valued.
3. Yourself. We are often our own worst critic. Did you just pull off an amazing event or fundraising activity? You deserve a special reward too! In this case, I'm taking my own advice. In fact, my dog-training class with Fiona is my special reward to myself after doing a ton of work putting together an online publishing conference that was held last week.
All of these ideas are simple and inexpensive. You may have to set aside a little time, but it's worth it. When people feel appreciated and are rewarded for good work, they are more likely to continue to stay with an organization and less likely to burn out. Like our canine friends, we could all stand a little more positive reinforcement in our lives!