I need to give my employees more positive feedback

A reader writes:

My employee recently told me that she would like to get more positive feedback from me. I’m good at giving constructive feedback on how to improve her work, but I will admit that I don’t often remember to give positive feedback. This has been difficult for my employee, who said that she has also noticed that I am more likely to give positive feedback to colleagues on other teams than to her.

After our conversation, I reflected on what she told me and realized that she’s completely right. I think I’m more likely to praise employees from other teams because I have no set expectations for their performance, whereas I have high expectations for my own employees and when they meet them I see it as a part of their jobs. Clearly that’s not a very people-friendly way of working – I can understand how she feels. I feel awful for being a bad manager and want to know how to get better.

I’ve taken training and read material on how to give effective positive feedback. I just don’t think to do it very often. Are there tips and tricks I can use to remember to give positive feedback more regularly? I thought about scheduling specific times for it, but this seems like it might come off as inauthentic.

I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.

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