Q: My
company is facing a tough time financially, and my employees have
been extremely devoted and hard-working through this difficult
period. I would like to show my appreciation in some way but,
obviously, cannot afford a fancy celebration or a costly bonus or
reward. What advice can you offer?
A: The
truth is that the amount of money you spend on a company
celebration is not what determines its success. An office
celebration can be as simple as pizza for lunch or doughnuts for an
afternoon break. One objective of the celebration, of course, is to
use it as an opportunity to reiterate your appreciation for all
that your employees have done. There's an old saying everyone
knows is true because we've all felt unappreciated at some time
or other: "If people are not told overtly and clearly that
they are appreciated, they will assume the opposite." A party,
no matter how modest, is an easy, natural setting for expressing
your gratitude for employees' hard work and loyalty.
The real key, however, to having a successful celebration that
provides meaningful, long-lasting results is to use it as an
opportunity for your employees to relive recent accomplishments at
work and share them with the group. Your role in such a celebration
is to facilitate the reliving. The objective is not for you to talk
about what people have done; it's for you to help your
employees talk about what they've done. Your job is to prompt
people to talk about accomplishments that you value and those that
they value. The more you talk, the less meaningful the event will
be for the people in the audience. By the way, if you're having
a meal, this discussion should precede the meal, not follow it as
is usually done. If you do it before the meal, related conversation
will continue through the mealtime.
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During the celebration, people will share what others did that
helped them personally or things that contributed to some result of
the organization. This kind of verbal recognition of peers will
improve working relationships, reinforce high performance and serve
as a prompt to others not involved to contribute in similar ways in
the future.
When the participation begins to wind down, you should end it
with the presentation of some tangible item. The item should be
chosen not for its monetary value, but for its ability to anchor a
memory of an accomplishment. Anything will do, including items such
as T-shirts, coffee mugs and caps. A clever or serious inscription
will create the value. The tangible item should be presented simply
as something to help employees remember what was accomplished and
what they did to contribute to the achievement. Do not present it
as a token gift. Although the item may be serviceable, the memory
that links it to accomplishment and high performance is the key to
making it valuable. Following this approach will go a long way in
showing employees that you care, even in tough economic times.
Aubrey C. Daniels, Ph.D., founder and CEO of management
consulting firm Aubrey Daniels & Associates (ADA), is an
internationally recognized author, speaker and expert on management
and human performance issues. For more about ADA's seminars and
consulting services or to order Aubrey's book Bringing Out the Best in People: How To Apply The
Astonishing Power of Positive Reinforcement, visit www.aubreydaniels.com, or
contact Laura Lee Glass at (800) 223-6191 or lglass@aubreydaniels.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are those
of the author, not of Entrepreneur.com. All answers are intended to
be general in nature, without regard to specific geographical areas
or circumstances, and should only be relied upon after consulting
an appropriate expert, such as an attorney or
accountant.