By Larry Olmstead

Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow has stirred up an interesting debate about the value of praise in the workplace. Recently he wrote about how companies, faced with an influx of younger employees accustomed to being stroked by parents and teachers, are using all manner of praise, gifts and incentives to celebrate their achievements and encourage new ones. He reported last week on backlash to the column.

The push-back took three forms. The first criticized managers for insincere praise. The second ripped praise and gifts that trivialized the values and mission of the workers. (Nurses noted that handing out toasters seemed an inappropriate way to value contributions in their workplaces.) The third equated praise with coddling and in effect, said: Grow up, kids. You’re getting a paycheck, right? You want praise, too?

This is a lively discussion, and an entertaining one. It misses what is most important about the praise dynamic in American workplace.

It is easy to rip misguided attempts at praise, but truth is, there is little reason to fear U.S. managers are going overboard. In the hectic world of Corporate America, even the best manager might struggle at times to maintain an effective level of engagement with employees. In general, I have found, there is little conscious attention given to praise.

The groundbreaking Gallup study that spawned the book “First Break All the Rules” showed empirically that the best employees need praise from bosses on a regular basis – perhaps weekly – and are more likely to go elsewhere if they don’t get it.

Don’t worry about praising too much – worry about doing it right. The best praise:

1. Is timely.
2. Cites specific behaviors and results.
3. Speaks to extraordinary effort, or consistent efforts supplied with excellence.
4. Reinforces behaviors that you’d like to see repeated.
5. Recognizes behavior that is consistent with the organization’s values, and behavior that helps the organization achieve its broader mission and goals.

Praise in public or private? Both. What about toasters? Toasters are not praise. Toasters are toasters. If you want to give someone something, make it something relevant to creating more success in the workplace, like resources or improved tools or a ticket to a strong seminar. Or just give people a day off.