Wednesday, May 3, 2023

EPR—What Is It, and Why Do We Need It?

It’s not just the bottom line that improves with EPR. The whole workplace community benefits

By Manley Cox, Local 68 Member

When we were young, our parents and teachers used to recognize us for things we either accomplished or did well at home and in school. They would teach us through encouragement and praise us for those accomplishments.

This is no different in the workplace, but it is not common and is often overlooked.

EPR stands for encourage, praise, and recognize. Receiving praise in any setting or phase of life can make people feel appreciated. People who receive praise at work feel encouraged to be more engaged with and proud of their work.

Giving praise in the workplace is where a manager, supervisor, or coworker gives a positive acknowledgment of someone else’s work. Praise can be public or private, written or spoken.

Anyone within an organization can receive EPR, from volunteers to owners. Providing encouragement for your team members doesn’t have to be costly or time-consuming, but it does need to be positive and genuine.

Creating a culture of EPR can build trust among team members and create bonds among individuals, their managers, and supervisors. This can increase engagement and collaboration within departments. Creating a culture of EPR can also aid employee retention and increase revenue and productivity.

Recognizing your team for their progress can help remind them of their improvements and encourage them to keep working on things to get better. This can increase motivation and make periods of change easier.

EPR can come from anywhere within the organization, not just from management. Create opportunities for team members to recognize each other, and invite them to share individually with each other. This may also create opportunities for team members to praise their supervisors, which may happen less frequently.

When giving praise, tell someone exactly what they’ve done well. Be specific and do not over generalize, for example, by saying “Well done” or “Great job.” Tell them specifically what they did to earn praise.

Using a variety of words, phrases, and approaches to deliver EPR can help it have a more effective and impactful meaning. Focus on your team members as individuals and learn their strengths. Understand what they do well and what they provide to the team. Let them know that “when we work together, we’re better.”

Now more than ever, we need to use EPR in our workplaces, not just for production or the bottom line. Offering genuine encouragement, praise, and recognition creates a better, more positive culture and improves mental health for all.

Manley Cox is chief steward with Peter Kiewit Sons ULC currently working on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.

EPR—What Is It, and Why Do We Need It?

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