I know there have been ample research studies conducted and extensive data collected on the importance of employee appreciation. I get anxious to fine-tune my approach every time I dig into the numbers. But I thought it would be interesting to take a different approach in finding out what my own managers and staff thought about appreciation. I wanted to hear directly from them if appreciation was important and had made a difference to how they felt working at our hospitals.
In the past year, our organization has been on a culture shift fast-track, seeking to create a culture of recognition. But after all the strategy and planning and communicating, I truly wanted to know if being appreciated more frequently was making a difference to our employees.
How do you motivate your employees? Keep them empowered and engaged? The answers are simpler than you might think, and Fast Company’s Erin Schulte makes a good case for them. Her formula is fairly basic, but can help companies yield world-class results.
“Happy, motivated employees are simply good for business,” Schulte writes.
In fact, Harvard Business Review reports “happy employees have, on average, 31% higher productivity; their sales are 37% higher; their creativity is three times higher.”
The keys to keeping employees happy? Celebrate milestones, say “thanks” and reward high-performing employees. By appreciating great work, employees are happy, productive and loyal.
The ten-year anniversary of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City is being celebrated today. I have many great memories of the 2002 Winter Olympics. I lived in Salt Lake at the time of the Olympics and enjoyed the excitement, energy and camaraderie the games brought to the city. Because of my work, I was fortunate enough to meet a few athletes, attend some of the sporting events, and even see victory medals presented to winning athletes at the downtown Medals Plaza.
Interestingly, one of my most memorable Olympic experiences didn’t begin in Salt Lake City. I had just wrapped up a business trip and after boarding my flight at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, bound for my then-hometown of Salt Lake City, UT, I started searching for my seat. The plane was not very crowded so the flight attendant told me I could sit anywhere I wanted. Since I’m 6’4”, I moved back in the plane, hoping to find a spot with some extra leg room near an emergency exit.
What is a mistake? It depends on who you ask. Stefon Harris defines it as a creative opportunity. Harris leads a jazz ensemble with a collaborative sound built on a collective inspiration.
For Harris, when one of his band mates makes a seeming “mistake,” it is up to the other three members to creatively react and continue on. He believes the best way to inspire is through listening to his band members. “If I want the music to get to a certain level of intensity, the first step for me is to be patient, to listen to what’s going on around me,” says Harris. “When you do that, you engage and inspire the other musicians and they give you more, and gradually it builds.”
We can learn a lot from Harris’ approach. The ability to listen and react positively to the actions of our coworkers can make all the difference in how the team works together. Harris points out that jazz music can’t be micromanaged–it limits artistic possibilities. We’re taking a note from this leader to learn to listen, react and inspire. Hear more in Harris’ TED talk.
Teams that click don’t fall from the sky. It takes time and focused effort, but keep going and your consistency will pay off. Enjoy our weekly tips for powerful team building ideas to inspire, develop and challenge your team. Click to read more for this week’s teamwork tip, founded in the research from O.C. Tanner’s New York Times bestseller The Orange Revolution, by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, and get your team on track to breakthrough performance.
Hurricane-force winds. Widespread damage. In December 2011, Northern Utah experienced a wind storm unlike anything it’d seen in generations. Powerful winds uprooted trees, plucked power lines from the ground, knocked down fences, shattered windows and peeled shingles off roofs.
Homes, businesses and communities were in need of major repair, and in the midst of that chaos was a woman who needed help. She works as an accounts receivable specialist for an outdoor recreation company and her fence blew down in the storm. Her husband was set for major surgery in a matter of weeks and she needed that fence repaired in order to keep the lid on a busy household of kids and pets. Her co-workers knew she couldn’t do it alone and instinctively jumped in to help.
