3 Powerful Strategies to Acknowledge Team Success
How do you celebrate success in the workplace? As the year winds down, take time to reflect with your team and acknowledge and celebrate team performance and results. Show your employees that you appreciate them and their contributions. Acknowledging performance ultimately motivates the workforce and boosts your bottom line.
1. Engage in an authentic one-on-one with your employee. Pitch it up as celebrating the year. Review both accomplishments and behaviors that were positive and made a difference. It’s easy to focus on numbers or objectives which are certainly important. But, taking the time to point out a specific behavior that contributed to team success provides insight into how an individual’s communication resulted in positive results.
For example, an employee who supported a teammate or helped rally the team. Reinforcing these behaviors motivates employees to continue positive behaviors.
2. Gather the team and host a holiday or office party. Big end of year holiday parties are nice, but it doesn’t require an elaborate event to be effective. In fact, acknowledging year end success to create impact should be about work and not the party. Let the team know it’s an end of year celebration and set a time. Plan it on-site or at a local gathering place. It doesn’t need to take a lot of time. The message is what is important. Food and beverage is always a nice touch and is a great way to extend the high energy going within the team. It’s important that the team know you have an agenda as part of the gathering.
Let the team know you would like to acknowledge the year’s accomplishments. Highlight both the bottom line results AND call out team communication or individual behaviors that made a difference. People like to know how they as a team or as an individual made a difference. The personal contributions that are acknowledged lets employees know they are valued as a person.
3. Set the stage for the New Year. Take advantage of the positive energy when recognizing the year end accomplishments. People feel good knowing they are appreciated. Build a bridge forward by aligning positive results and behaviors with specific objectives for the New Year.
Reinforce how specific behaviors drove results for the year. Let employees know how team communications contributed to overall performance. Energize the team by applying those behaviors to what is ahead for the team.
