People's contribution to the organisation is recognised and valued

Hold regular staff meetings or discussion groups between management and non-management staff in an informal setting

These should allow staff to contribute to the agenda and to ask questions about the rationale behind policies or decisions.

Encourage feedback

Consider introducing tools such as a physical or email suggestion box. Although honest, personal feedback is the ideal, you may get more numerous and more frank responses from anonymous surveys or feedback forms.

Introduce an internal communications policy

Formalising the way communications should work can be a good way of clearly defining the attitude of the organisation, defining the responsibilities of those involved in the process and setting out the means of communications and consultation that will be used. The policy could include responsibility for communication, methods to be used, arrangements for consultation and arrangements for training managers in communication skills. Any policy must reflect the needs and culture of the organisation, and should acknowledge

Consider the impact that changes to working practices might have on people in the organisation

Effects of change may be felt more widely than expected. It is important to communicate the change, the rationale behind it, the expected impact and support available. Give people the opportunity to comment in advance, and ensure their views are given reasonable consideration.

Treat employees as partners in the business.

Keep people informed about business performance and management decisions, perhaps at team meetings or through internal newsletters.

Ensure employees are equipped to make decisions properly without risk of blame

Ensure they have the information and skills to enable them to reach an informed decision, and encourage them to seek feedback and guidance from colleagues where appropriate. Ultimately an atmosphere of trust and teamwork comes from giving them confidence, not threatening dismissal.

Keep communication open and honest

Use regularly scheduled, open agenda sessions with individuals (e.g. one-to-one meetings, appraisals) and with representative groups (e.g. joint consultative forums, staff councils) to discuss issues or questions as they emerge. 

Encourage managers to take an interest in people’s lives

Managers should be prepared to chat about the things their team members are interested in. They should listen actively to whatever people have to say, to strengthen the social support network in the workplace.

Build team spirit with regular briefings

Hold brief daily or weekly meetings to plan work, establish goals and discuss any special events and deadlines. Hold daily or weekly debriefings, and stick to this schedule, to avoid losing credibility or the perception that management has ‘lost interest’ in communication. Share any news and problems and give employees credit for their achievements.

Tailor the organisations business goals or vision into tangible objectives for individuals

Individuals who understand how they contribute to achieving the organisation’s wider goals are likely to be more engaged and motivated. Ensure employees can influence the results they are being asked to achieve, and agree targets against which both manager and employee can monitor performance.  Ensure that employees are rewarded for achieving their goals, to underline the importance of individual contributions to the success of the organisation.

Encourage people to find their own solutions

When people understand problems in detail and are given the opportunity and trust to find their own solutions, they become both more committed to implementing the solution, and positive about the challenge.

Develop a culture of praise and constructive critical feedback

Formal and informal recognition of achievements should aim to incentivise and improve performance, help learning and build employees’ motivation and self-esteem.

Use quality circles to involve people in coming up with solutions

Quality circles are small groups of employees, usually led by a supervisor, who meet regularly to solve problems and to find ways of improving aspects of their work. The circle presents recommendations to management and is normally involved in subsequent implementation and monitoring. A facilitator is usually appointed to arrange training and provide support. Commitment of senior management is crucial, and they must be prepared to support the implementation of the circle's solutions to problems, with resources as necessary. Quality circles should operate openly, selecting their own problems to solve, with full recognition given to their achievements. Where they exist, representative groups such as trade unions might be involved.

Be 
timely

Effective positive reinforcement must be given soon after the desired behaviour occurs - when it will create the strongest association between behaviour and reward.  Too much elapsed time not only diminishes the effect, it can in fact reverse it.  If you wait two or more weeks to congratulate a researcher who has reached an important goal, doesn't this suggest you are detached from events, or that you don't even care?  Late praise can even come across as an insult instead of a compliment.

Be 
sincere

Praise isn’t effective unless it's sincere.  If you don’t believe praise is important, don’t try it - your words will ring hollow and your credibility will suffer. 
However, feeling uncomfortable isn’t the same thing as feeling insincere:  any new behaviour - including praise - will be awkward at first.  If you’re convinced that giving praise is important, you can find a way to make it work for you.

Be specific

Your praise will be much more effective if you mention specifics.  Don't walk into your department and say, “Everybody’s doing a great job - keep it up!”  That's bland and pointless.  On the other hand, talking about the facts of an achievement allow you to speak intelligently and credibly on the issue, which also requires that you be close to your people.  At the same time, it’s important to explain an achievement:  “This is exactly the type of success that will make us more competitive in our industry.”

Be personal

We’re all busy, so when a manager takes time to personally appreciate an employee, it announces that the employee and the achievement are more important than the manager's myriad other responsibilities.  The more personal you can be - hand writing the thank-you note, for example - the more effective the praise will be. 
Another way to underscore your praise is to say how the behaviour makes you feel, for example, “I’m glad I have you on my team."

Be positive

Praise is so rare in the workplace that there’s a strong temptation for employees to gloss over it and focus on the negative.  So if you say, “Indra, you've done a great job with this report, but your spelling certainly could be improved,” you've offered half-hearted praise that's easy to misinterpret. (You can bet that Indra will ignore everything before ‘but’.)  Save criticism or suggestions for the next opportunity, so that you can make the current interaction 100 percent positive.

Be frequent

More than ever, positive reinforcement must occur on a daily basis, not merely during the annual performance review.  The more you reinforce desired behaviour and positive results, the easier it will be to obtain them - and the more your employees will want to work for you.