Fostering a congratulatory work culture is a healthy, desirable trait for any business. After all, it’s a safe bet to say that nobody wants to work for a group that is unappreciative of their contributions. Being congratulated on hard work is a good feeling, and that work deserves to be recognized.
Plus, people who feel appreciated at work perform better and are more productive, meaning lower employee turnover. If nothing else, it’s smart business.
Here’s a look at five ways your company can inspire a congratulatory culture!
1. Share Success Stories
A congratulatory culture isn’t created overnight; however, starting small can lead to positive results.
Consider setting up a bulletin board in a room only accessible by employees where they can see it daily. On the bulletin board, pin a piece of paper that has “this month’s success stories” written on it. Next to the board leave paper, pens or pencils, and pins, and encourage others to share any work-related effort their fellow coworkers have realized. Start it off by including smaller stories to inspire other people to share their stories.
These achievements can be as small or as large as you’d like. A post as simple as, “made a sale today!” can spark conversation between coworkers. Other achievements such as, “earned a promotion!” can make a great addition. Sharing the success stories of coworkers can bolster the uplifting atmosphere every business desires.
2. Inspire Department Collaboration
This method’s effectiveness may depend on the size of your company, but it proves beneficial to understand how each department functions. At the very least, recognizing the goals of each department and how it measures success can go a long way toward improving collaboration skills.
Every aspect of a business is integral to its success, which is why sending new hires to briefly work within each department and meet every employee can prove beneficial. Through this, they get a glimpse of how each aspect of the business operates and better understand how the entire company is maintained. This type of early training helps create a positive workspace in which departments are aligned and coworkers recognize each other’s hard work and a job well done.
For example, at Corporate Essentials, our new employees spend a week training in each department to develop a better understanding of how we work together to reach a common goal and create the best possible experience for our customers. We believe this method increases the overall effectiveness of our business.
3. Encourage Ideas
Being open to suggestions from every department, not just your own, can contribute to healthy work culture. Looking ‘outside of the box’, so to speak, can give you the answer you’re looking for. If you’re facing a particularly difficult task, consulting with a fresh perspective (such as speaking to someone who works in a different department) can provide original ideas you may have not considered.
For instance, Corporate Essentials releases a new Snack Box on a monthly basis, which includes a variety of healthy and delicious snack options. If the snack box team is (hypothetically) stumped on what to include in a new snack box, they can consult with the customer service department and ask for suggestions based on which snacks and flavors our customers like to see most.
4. Make Lasting Relationships
Establishing a positive culture has to start somewhere. Meeting as many people in the company as possible is an important first step toward maintaining that positive culture!
Of course, not everyone has an outgoing personality. That’s why encouraging everyone to introduce themselves to new hires and welcome them to the team is a smart move to establish a positive first impression. Additionally, this idea can extend beyond new hires; anytime someone runs into another person in the company they haven’t met, they should be encouraged to introduce themselves. This has the potential of improving human relations in the business.
The Human Resources department can share these objectives with the rest of the company, encouraging new hires and current employees to introduce themselves to new faces.
Addressing people by their name isn’t a practice everyone is accustomed to, but it can improve a person’s overall mood. According to Jodi Schulz at Michigan State University, using a person’s name in conversation, “creates a culture of respect, recognition, and consideration for the discussion.”
5. Share a Positive Mindset, Congratulate Hard Work
Staying positive in the face of adversity is more difficult for some people than for others. That’s why it’s important to remember that you and your coworkers share a common goal – to strengthen the business and maintain a positive work environment.
Getting paid for the work you accomplish may be one of the reasons you work in the first place, but why stop there? What’s the point if you aren’t learning from your success and helping those around you? Sharing congratulations to coworkers who perform well can mean a lot to them.
Something as simple as a compliment can be just what someone needed to hear on a tough day. That person can potentially spread the same positivity to others around them, and in turn, create a culture where people are inspired to do great work.
