Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S.! Many family and friends will sit down and talk about what they are grateful for. They’ll talk about family, friends, a decent job, their health, etc.
We want to normalize gratitude at work and one of the best, easiest, and no-cost ways to do that is through employee recognition. Employee recognition can be as simple as saying, “Thank you for a job well done!”
Seriously, do that regularly, and genuinely, and you will be creating a culture of gratitude.
Employee Recognition from Managers
This type of gratitude should come from managers and leaders, regularly. From the direct supervisor all the way up, or as far up as possible, employee recognition can mean a lot. Getting recognition from a boss, or a leader from another department, can make an employee think, “Wow! I am making a difference!”
I love getting recognition from my own boss but when a leader from another team tells me I’ve done a good job I begin to think that my role is more impactful than I may have thought. I wonder if other leaders are looking at me, perhaps thinking about bringing me on to their team. I feel valuable to the whole organization.
If you are a leader please don’t underestimate the power you have when you tell someone thank you. Employee recognition goes a long ways, especially from managers and leaders.
Employee Recognition from Peers
Also known as peer recognition, having a non-manager recognize your work and express some kind of gratitude or congratulations is also important. This happens when managers set up a culture of peer and employee recognition.
You can tend to have a bit of a competitive environment at work and, honestly, that can be okay! But sometimes the competition can get out of hand. When that happens the culture can become toxic, dangerous, and unappealing. Going to work feeling like you have to compete with your teammates can be a real drag.
Contrast that to a team where people genuinely build one another up. When they show gratitude for one another, for work and efforts, results and attitude, things change. People want to come to work. They want to give their best, or maybe give a little extra. They care about what they do because they know their peers care about what they do.
This is employee recognition at its finest! And it all starts with a thank you.
Make Employee Recognition a Part of Your DNA
When you create an environment where people express gratitude, and congratulate one another for accomplishments, you are building your cultural DNA. Over time, with consistency, your culture naturally becomes one of recognition and gratitude. You create a work environment where people want to contribute. They want to get the kudos. And they want to give recognition and gratitude to others.
Can you imagine how great this would be? Especially if it is genuine?
I’ve worked in organizations that have had excellent cultures. I’ve worked in organizations with dry, stagnant cultures. The difference is night and day. This doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when leadership focuses on the culture and the employee experience. Strategic thought goes into this. Leadership training goes into this type of environment. Continual conversation around culture and the work environment remind people that it’s not a passing fad, rather it’s a critical part of your organization.
Most important, this type of culture happens when managers and leaders model employee recognition. When they continually, sincerely show recognition, people buy into it. If it is forced, or too inconsistent, it’s hard to believe that they aren’t just saying thank you to check a checkbox.
Can you tell we love culture? We love creating a better employee and customer experience. We want the workplace to be better. Our employee recognition tools, along with incentives and rewards that are gamified, help build that richer experience. Want to see how?
