Recognize Your Way to a Great Culture

Shawnee Love   •  
April 14, 2016

Our climb towards a great organizational culture continues with step 7:

recognition and appreciation.

Think back to when you started appreciating your people.  Chances are, you began by saying thank you because:

  • it’s courteous,
  • you’re a nice person,
  • it’s the right thing to do,
  • an HR expert told you to,
  • it gets people to do more of the things you thank them for!
  • (Please comment with your favourite reason to say thanks– there are so many more)

No matter what reason caused you to start saying ‘thank you’, if you do it right, you have hopefully noticed added benefits.  The one we are focusing on today is how giving thanks and praise to your employees will help foster a great organizational culture, hallmarks of which include:

  • trust (for leaders and between colleagues)
  • camaraderie (all for one and one for all)
  • alignment with business goals
  • a sense of pride in the work being done and in the organization as a whole.

As a leader striving to create a great culture, taking opportunities to praise employees increases the likelihood those 4 qualities will exist in your organization because it sets the environment and models the behaviours within which good cultures flourish.  Praise also causes your people to:

  1. Feel valued,
  2. Feel more connected with you and the organization,
  3. Trust you,
  4. Be loyal, and
  5. Try harder.

give thanks  word abstract in wood type

Imagine if these 5 things were true for most of your employees.

  • How much more could you build/ sell/ grow/ do?
  • How much better could you innovate?
  • How much faster could you adapt?
  • How many more customers would you acquire?
  • How many fewer people would quit?
  • How much farther could you go?

Companies with great cultures outperform on key measures like profits, sales, and employee retention because the people in the organization care and want them to succeed.  That alone is worth saying thanks for.