I take the time and effort to put in a special word for someone who could use some recognition and praise. In this case, this morning, T at Good Will who has been helping me for years with unloading donations at their depot. I sensed he was under stress and went around to the front entrance to the store and asked to speak to management. When the asst. mgr. arrived, I told him what a good, polite, friendly, hard worker T was. He really appreciated this and said he would mention this later at a general staff morning meeting which included T.
In my opinion, people are far more typically likely to complain and criticize than to bother doing the sort of thing I did this morning. Again, it is important to go with openings and a sense of appropriate timing when doing such things. But compliments and praise are often appreciated and can make a big difference in people’s lives and workplaces. I have seen this happen myriad times going back to my classroom days and when I acted similarly with only predictably positive results. A good word put in for someone is a truly easy no-brainer that costs absolutely nothing and usually changes the quality of many people’s days, not just an individual’s.