- Would you go to a game and not share
until your team won?
Of course not.
If you're like me, you'd be cheering all the way along.
Service jobs can be repetitive
and sometimes seemingly endless.
Celebrating progress is essential,
and it sure makes things more fun.
And I've come to believe it's not optional.
I can't think of an organization that delivers
consistently great service that doesn't make
celebrating a priority.
Let's dig a little deeper into the benefits of celebrating
and identify three reasons it may not be happening.
The owners of The Cracked Egg, a restaurant
in Daytona Beach, cook lunch for their employees
after the breakfast and lunch rush.
They relax and celebrate the day.
Many on their team, including dishwashers
and others in some pretty tough jobs,
have been employees for over 10 years.
When asked what they like, they feel appreciated
and supported and say that every day
somehow turns into a celebration.
What's remarkable to casual observers is how well
they work together during the morning crunch,
even when the line's out the door.
This restaurant provides a simple example
of an important principle.
Celebrations boost productivity and quality.
Celebrations also strengthen your culture.
They help define what's important.
Sea World schedules time for their customer service
employees to experience their own amusement parks.
They encourage them to just be guests.
Groupon celebrates work anniversaries with an Adidas jacket
and patches for each subsequent year of service.
The expansive conglomerate, Tata Group, celebrates
risk taking by each year awarding Dare to Try awards
to employees who conduct worthy but unsuccessful attempts
to try something new.
Celebrating improves communication.
You'll learn vital information about your operations
that you may not otherwise hear.
When employees understand how much you care,
they're willing to share how much they care.
Celebrations also improve working relationships.
American State Bank of Iowa, in Sioux Center,
a town of fewer than 10,000, thanks all employees
with a long weekend in Omaha once every two years.
They enjoy access to shopping and entertainment
and always come back with shared stories to compare.
It's unfortunate that even with all the research
highlighting the benefits, many employees
say their managers miss clear opportunities
to celebrate accomplishments.
When a large organization recently transitioned
to a new healthcare provider, thousands of employees
were incorrectly denied access.
The HR benefits contact center worked day and night
for seven weeks, while these problems were getting fixed.
In a focus group, they later shared, you know,
we just wanted a thank you.
We didn't create the problem, but we were the crew
that helped clean it up.
We made it through this.
Why do leaders miss these opportunities to celebrate?
I think it boils down to three reasons.
One is not enough time.
I'm convinced that like spending time with customers,
this is time that comes back to us.
Second may be just not being aware
of how important celebrating is.
And third, there may be an unrealistic sense
that a major overall goal must be accomplished
before a celebration is warranted.
The central responsibility of leadership
is to keep your team engaged in working towards a goal.
Celebrations are such a helpful part of that effort.
Remember the game.
Don't wait for the closing buzzer.
Find ways to celebrate now and make the journey memorable.