Do you expect praise for your work?

i think this is right up to a point, we shouldn't work at something expecting praise, but just because we don't expect it shouldn't stop us from giving it to others. i have been in a few situations where i have begun to feel taken for granted. that is partly why i came here. i used to post on a newspaper site, and nearly every day they would highlight a short phrase from comments made on the site, and yet mine were never ever used, and yet there were a couple of people who got chosen all the time. and in a way its silly, but on the other hand after a while i started thinking to myself, well what am i doing here if i'm not appreciated. yes, we shouldn't expect praise, but on the otherhand, sometimes we can find ourselves in places where other people are obviously favoured over us, and we are just taken for granted, and we should see it is time to move on.

I do agree with you. I don't think that it's a good idea to expect good praise. It is nice to receive from time to time, but we can't always get good praise when we do good work. It's not something that we can get all the time. As you mentioned, if we do expect it all the time, we are just going to be disappointed. I think that it's pretty much as simple as that, whether we like it or not. If we're in the mind set that we're always going to be praised for our good work, we're not focusing on what really is important. Sometimes, we get more satisfaction in feeling good about our work, or helping others, and things like that.

Because of the nature of the world I don't exactly expect it, but that's not to say I don't deserve it. All good work deserves praise, no matter how big or how little. A real shame that so many people only notice the crap in the world, and no one takes notice of people unless they do lousy work. Good work should be noticed too.

totally agree.. i always focus on self-satisfaction on whatever 'work' i do.. when i was studying.. i always aim for good / excellent results - i set my own target scores - if i make them - that's the reward in itself.. and if the scores are high enough to gain me some awards from the school - that's a BONUS! now that i am working - the aim is always to complete any given task within the stipulated timeframe with very minimal mistakes.. and i always to 'give more' than required.. always thinking of my bosses as customers, and the main idea is to 'please the customer'.. but definitely NOT SUCKING UP to the boss, ya.. 'Pleasing the Customer' as in - being honest with your work (know your work!) - deliver whatever is required, be prepared to ask questions.. no sucking up is needed..

Hi Pose: I agree, that's the reason why, I usually try not to expect a praise for my work. When I feel satisfied for my work, I give myself my own reward. If someone congratulates me for my job, that's a bonus but we can't expect this or we'll be disappointed sooner or later. We shouldn't deppend on the approuval of the others. ALVARO

I can't say that i am looking for praises but more, i would want to be given due credit for the work that i have done. Praise is something external and and can definitley motivate us further. however, we first need to know ourselves, our own strength and weakness so we can achieve better height. You are right, if we work towarsd awards and trophies, it really reduces our intrinsic motivation. the inner motivation that we have because we are so focused on the reward and the award, we tend to focus so much on external factors.

I have never expected any praise for my work. The only thing I can do is to work hard and make my boss happy. I am honored only if the praises come unexpectedly from my boss or even my work colleagues. This is the proper way that I know that I have been praised for the hard work and efforts I put into my job.

The most important thing at work is to do the best you can for those who depend on you and to feel satisfied with your accomplishments. If you feel satisfied with your accomplishments is not really important to receive any recognition.

Hello Pose, my dear friend. Recently I have been praised for quite a few times by the parents of my students' for my work. I did not expect it, but I think that doing my work well is my duty as I am paid for what I do and it is natural that I need to make it as perfect as I can. Of course, to get praised for what is being done is some kind of pleasure and it does make me work harder and better. Have a good day, Pose.

A pleasant day to you Pose123, You are indeed right, awards and trophies are truly great incentives for a job well done but we need not focus on those as they are just one of the material things that we can receive later on. And as you have said, we might loose our sight. In addition, our focus might get affected too. And as for me, I dont expect any praise for the work that I am doing since I am doing my best of everything for God. I always make it a point that I will do my best everyday as if tomorrow never comes. Since I dont want to make a regret later on that failure has come up due to neglection. And since, I need to serve my God as my master, so I need to do it to the best of my ability. In addition, I am not discrediting the fact that there are times, failure arises inspite of doing your best. But this is a part of the task. As you will not realize the error until a failure have arise. To sum it up, in everything that I do, I do it all to the best of my ability without asking any praises. As the Lord, our God is the one I am serving. Have a great day Pose123.

Hello POSE, I also feel it when we do something really good, people normally don't appreciate our work & instead they always find something in our work which needs improvement. It happens to me most of the time but i take it positively and take their points in consideration for future. But then i feel the words of appreciation would have been enough to motivate me to do better next time.

It depends on the given situation. When I do and give my very best towards the work, I'm expecting praise for it. But, if the work was quite not properly accomplished and successful,no, I'm not. It is better to work for self-satisfaction and fulfillment so not to be dismayed and discouraged when not praised by someone who saw your products. But, being praise is a good feeling to for it elevate your standing.

Yes. Just for a reality check, everyone loves to be praised for a job well done. It's a nice sense of fulfillment. But as you say, we might disregard what is more important for us if we will make it as a goal or if we will focus to achieving it. Some people are possess a lot of money, properties and everything you could ever imagine but I doubt if they are really happy. I think, we must not disregard the ones who give us love and care in exchange for wealth or whatever we desire. Family must come first for they give us true happiness that any entertainment can't give. :)

Ya completely true.... Earlier it was used to be said "work hard..coz there is nothing called luck" .Now it seriously feels like WTF . Seriously now I think "If working hard only wud have made people billionaires or millionaires then the railway platforms coolies and the labourers would have been in the list of richest persons... So in today's world If there is no luck and if there are no brains combined with ur hardwork,, u are as good as going towards serious danger... So what Do u all think??

A farmer worked at 2 jobs and always did his best work for 20 years. He labored at home at night, and then worked all day at his factory Job. Nobody took the time to thank him for his labor at the Factory, but his work paid off and he was thanked many times, because he used his salary to build a new house, and to buy a farm business. Before he retired from the factory his house and business were free and clear. What a wonderful Thank-You he received!

I agree with you. If we work just for the praise then we often lose sight of what is important and we may also be sloppy in our work. We don't work to make ourselves happy but only do what we can to get the praise we feel we need. Instead of doing for ourselves, in essence we're doing for others. It's being a perfectionist but in a different sense. I believe we should all set our own goals and try to achieve them, and be proud of ourselves, but not expect or work for any trophy or incentive. It gets rid of expectations and makes us a more positive person as well.

I was raised to do my very best and a good job done was my reward. As a Boss I always tried to give my employees a good job done often. Praise is such an easy thing to do, it costs nothing brings so much to the receiptent.

No not really, I mean it is really just doing what is expected of me in many ways. With that much said, it is rather nice to be appreciated for my work every now and again. There are just sometimes where I tend to bend over backwards to get a lot of work done. Yet a lot of people, they really just shrug off the actual work that has been done and really just tend to not really give me enough credit. Of course when something goes wrong, I tend to get some blame, despite the fact with a little help it would have gone more smoothly. Still that is just something that I am going to accept as a part of life. Not everything is going to be all as it should be a lot of the time. Just got to take a deep breath and not really lose any sleep. Not to mention if you do thinks expecting praise, then you are really doing them for all of the wrong reasons. However, that does not change the fact that a few kind words here and there is nice to hear. But if I don't hear them, than such is life and all of that. So yeah its nice but I don't expect it.

It is definitely wrong to do anything with the expectation of praise. If you combine that, which amounts to a feeling of entitlement, with a general lack of responsibility in life, you've got a nasty combination that leads to some really bad people in society. I don't want to get too off-track, though. You just wanted to talk about praise. We often don't give enough praise to others so it should not seem odd to receive little in return, but any acknowledgement of a job well done should be a complete surprise and greeted with total humility.

Getting praised for a job well done is rare. It's as you say, when something needs correction or are done in a wrong way you heard it clearly. I would want it to be either way. You do a job well you get an acknowledge as well as when it is not done properly. There should be a balance in appreciation and critiques.