Leaders have a wonderful "bucket filling" technique at their fingertips that costs nothing except a couple moments of your time. It's about a few sincere words of recognition or praise.

A recent Gallup poll found that 65% of Americans received NOrecognition in the workplace last year. No wonder low employee engagement is an issue in corporate America, since one of the key indicators of employee engagement is recognition. A question in Gallup's Q12 engagement survey asks: In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work? Notice the timeframe is the last seven days!

Let me be clear - recognition does not necessarily mean a bonus or pay increase. It is primarily about words of acknowledgement, praise, thanks or congratulations. Unfortunately, words of praise are very rare in most workplaces, yet they can be a powerful motivator. And it can be as simple as a sincere "thank you."

Have you said "thank you" in the last week? Have you acknowledged a job well done? extra hours or effort? improvement in performance? high quality output? the closed sale? an instance of superior customer service?

In Rath's book "How Full Is Your Bucket," he states that bucket-filling drops (words of praise and recognition) must be individual, specific and deserved. "Good job" is better than nothing, but it's not specific. "Brian - Good job in getting that proposal out so quickly. Thank you!"is even better.

Who do you need to recognize or praise? I think we all have the opportunity to do more bucket filling than we have in the past. And when we do, we'll see a positive impact on those who work with us and for us. I guarantee it!

Pamela Canning, CSC