Creating a Culture of Recognition
Why is a culture of recognition so important?
The effectiveness of the Go-to-Market plans I build are directly correlated with the strength of the culture in which they’re implemented. It’s one of the reasons I like to stay involved in the implementation phase and why culture is part of my GTM assessment.
It’s impressive watching how quickly companies can accelerate growth when combing a strong GTM plan with an amazing culture.
Some of the top reasons employees leave companies are because of lack of respect/appreciation, no career advancement opportunities, a bad boss, feeling burnt out and company culture. By building a culture of recognition, you’re solving for most of these attrition reasons.
Here are a few of the ways I’ve focused on recognition in the past and how I’ve always encouraged my team to do the same.
1) I make it a point of emphasis every 1:1 I have. If you read my last post on having better one on ones, I mentioned that one item I have every member bring to those meetings is recognition of one employee. This happens every single week.
I do this for two reasons. One, it makes that person take time to think about who went over and above this past week. My hope is they reach out to them individually as well. Secondly, I use that to reach out to congratulate that individual what they did (specific accomplishment here) and let them know who told me about it. This helps enforce the importance of recognition that I want to drive.
2) Don’t forget to celebrate all departmental wins, not just your own departments. Whether this is on Slack or in the office, make sure you’re taking time to celebrate the wins of every department. Often, I see companies focus on just the sales team and leave out Account Managers renewing or expanding customers, Support decreasing ticket resolution times, Product rolling out some new features, RevOps knocking out a major project, Marketing increase leads or conversion rates and SDRs hitting and exceeding their goals.
3) Write letters – Yes…the old fashion way. For those employees that have gone over and above, I’ve always sat down with a stack of cards and written notes to each one. These should be specific, timely and sincere. The letters, emails and thanks I’ve received from these have let me know how impactful they’ve been to others. Plus, selfishly, they make me feel damn good for putting the time in to write them.
Below is a post I shared last week on Linkedin, which shows the importance of these notes.
Linkedin Post:
Below is a handwritten letter (keeping the note to myself) I received over 10 years ago (check the date: 11/7/2012) by the current CEO of the company where I was working.
This is saved in a box that sits next to my desk. I credit this note for changing my perception on what recognition truly means as a leader.
The box I have is now filled with close to 20 notes that I have received. The primary reason I’ve received so many myself? It’s because I’ve handwritten far more to those employees that truly have deserved recognition over the last decade.
Some leaders think a better title or a small raise should be sufficient recognition.
This note, and others I’ve received, mean more to me than any title change or raise a company has ever provided.
If you’re a CEO, or frankly anyone that has a team underneath them, try this: This next week, take time to write 2-3 handwritten notes to members of your team that have gone over and beyond this past year and mail them out. See what happens.
This is the recognition that matters, this is how you build amazing cultures and this is how you retain top talent.
