The confluence of two things determined the content of this week’s blog post:

The Chief People Officer of HubSpot, Katie Burke, posted about phrases we don’t hear enough at work.

And,

Our new puppy, Dolly, (Yes, you read that correctly…) started school.

Let’s start with school:

One of the biggest takeaways from Dolly’s schooling has been the distinction between regular ‘training treats’ and ‘high-value treats.’

As you can imagine, ‘high-value’ treats are saved for the big asks: walking at heel, coming when called, lying the cuss down.

These treats are larger and more exciting than the “Good job,” treats given for smaller tasks: sitting, and, well, sitting.

Now to under-utilized phrases at work:

Most of us know the importance of thanking our team, telling them they’re doing a great job, etc.

They are the phrases we use for daily wins.

What most of us don’t do enough, however, is hand out high-value phrases.

We need to.

Among the phrases Ms. Burke felt were not being used enough at work, the following 3 struck me as super high-value:

You hear their value, yes?

Your team will, too—and using any one of them will let your team know how much you (high) value them.

What’s another high-value phrase? Take a look at “Thank You for Correcting Me.”