Celebrating major achievements is undeniably important but employers who overlook the smaller successes may be missing a chance to influence everyday behaviour, warns one rewards and recognition expert.
“If a customer comes into your store and has a heart attack and one of your employees leaps over the counter, applies CPR and saves the customer's life – you want to celebrate that story,” says Steven Green, president of
TemboSocial.
“It’s a big deal but, hopefully, it’s not something that is going to occur each day,” continues Green, who founded the social enterprise almost 15 years ago.
Instead of recognizing the rare but remarkable achievements of staff, Toronto-based Green says it’s just as important – if not more so – to reward positive everyday behaviour.
“The employee who stops in line on the way back from their lunch break to introduce themselves to two customers before heading back behind the counter – that is a behaviour that impacts the customer experience,” he stresses.
It may not be as exciting as saving a life but Green says employers can actively steer company culture by rewarding the everyday behaviour that they hope to see happen again.
“By celebrating these desired behaviours that bring your values to life, employees will be exposed to them and say to themselves; ‘I can do that when I come into work tomorrow, I just never thought of it,’” explains Green.
“Home runs are exciting, but I suggest you design your program to focus on the ‘base hits’ since these are what shape culture and drives business success.”
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