Empowering Employees Through Recognition: Faulkner's 'Congratulations' Over 'Thank You'

Judy Faulkner advocates using "congratulations" rather than "thank you" when recognizing employees for their work accomplishments. She believes "thank you" implies the work was done for the manager's benefit, while "congratulations" frames the achievement as belonging to the employee. Faulkner aims to empower employees by emphasizing their ownership and agency in their work.  

Faulkner's approach reflects a management philosophy that aims to boost employee motivation and performance through autonomy and purpose. Research shows that intrinsic motivation driven by internal satisfaction is more powerful than extrinsic motivation from manager praise. Faulkner wants to highlight employees' internal drive and personal accountability. This aims to decentralize authority and push decision making to frontline staff as markers of success in building an innovative company culture. While "thank you" has its place in social manners, reserving it for favors rather than work achievements helps reinforce the mindset that employees work for their own fulfillment, not just manager approval. 

Faulkner's use of "congratulations" over "thank you" for work accomplishments is intended to increase employee empowerment, ownership, and intrinsic motivation by framing achievements as driven by the employee's internal purpose rather than external direction.

Additional reference:

Why Judy Faulkner says 'congratulations' rather than 'thank you'