It’s vital for people to be valued and able to contribute to their organisations. It provides a basic motivation in life … purpose and meaning.
Wherever you work in the world, this principle is a critical step for an engaged, productive and happy culture.
Yet business leaders continually struggle with the basic concept of recognising great work as it occurs.
‘We never stop and celebrate our success…But we’ve done a lot of good things.’
Often the day-to-day of business is considered ‘enough’ when it comes to valuing and responding to struggle – a very ‘glass half empty’ approach.
Sure systems might eventually pick-up on individual and collective achievements … but this is often too little and too late to meaningfully connect with people’s emotions. Like celebrating a birthday a few months after the actual date.
A SIMPLE AND POWERFUL OPPORTUNITY for leaders everywhere:
- Be aware of achievements – big or small / professional or personal
- Stop and recognise these achievements – in a timely fashion
- Share these stories with the right people, in the right way
If you don’t follow this process people will feel continually weary, facing into a headwind and gaining little headway. One year will roll into another and you’ll be hearing the familiar words: “this year feels the busiest that we’ve ever had, and I thought last year was bad”.
The mindset opportunity here is to be ‘glass half full’, help people feel good about what they do and why. And … by occasionally stopping to reflect around this simple process, people won’t feel as busy. That’s the real hidden treasure.
