The 2012 Summer Olympics have begun, and all of us at O.C. Tanner are excited about the London Games! We fondly recall our singular experience with the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, when we were the manufacturers of the Olympic medals and Team USA rings. Since 2000, we have been honored to donate the team rings for each Summer and Winter Olympics.
O.C. Tanner employees are heavily involved in the design and development of the team rings, and we all feel connected to the athletes. I recently received an email from an employee in our Chicago sales office, which really sums up why we provide the U.S. Olympic team rings:
There’s a great deal of evidence that shows team decision-making results in a more superior outcome than an individual decision maker can achieve alone. Research also shows that it takes a team or an individual about the same amount of time to reach a critical decision. Teams also recall information more accurately than individuals. Team building in the workplace is vital to your organization, and teaching effective team building leads to improved corporate culture. Click below to read 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 take your teamwork training to new heights.
Stunning finishes and unexpected victories often make up the storied career of Olympians, but what can we learn from them when it comes to employee recognition? Plenty. The Olympics are epic—they’re more than medals, podiums and national anthems. They are the ultimate representation of the human experience, complete with triumph, heartache, celebration and of course, recognition.
What Olympians will experience over the next 17 days is indicative of three key insights when it comes to appreciation:
There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of books advising on the best conflict resolution techniques and strategies, and I certainly cannot compete in a blog post with the library of information that is out there. Although I’ve been a lawyer for 30-plus years, I always try to resolve any issues without having to take the steps of litigation.
In fact, many of the negotiation and resolution skills I’ve learned have been from working and advising different groups within our organization. Whether working cross-departments or even within your own team, here are a couple observations that might help you when a conflict arises:
Only recently have employees begun to be viewed as value creators rather than as expenses. Savvy employers have come to understand that a company’s main competitive advantage comes from its people. It’s the employees’ energy, passion, talents and creativity that makes a company stand out and excel. That’s why it’s extremely important to be able to measure the long-term financial contribution of employees, similarly to how we have benefited from the tremendous advantages of being able to measure the lifetime value of customers. While it’s fairly easy to measure the value of a sales performer who generates revenue, it’s harder to measure the value of a non-sales performer. However, with the help of employee lifetime value (ELTV) research, companies can now measure the lifetime financial contribution of every employee.
What is team building? There’s a common methodology found in breakthrough teams: they’re led by managers with great team building skills. They share a common cause and are focused on overcoming barriers, exceeding expectations and producing exceptional results together. Each employee practices effective leadership skills: goal-setting, communication, trust and accountability. And they achieve a heightened level of ‘esprit de corps’ through frequent employee recognition. Click below to read 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 find out how improving your teamwork in the workplace will improve your profits.
A close friend of mine works for a global financial institution. When he was first hired, he told me how excited he was to work for a company with a great onboarding program. They flew him to the East Coast so he could train with the organization’s best and brightest U.S. leaders.
But, two years have passed, and the honeymoon is definitely over. He’s discouraged because he was just overlooked for a promotion. He wasn’t really given an explanation, but was still expected to do the work the position requires without the title or pay. And to top it off, company leaders don’t regularly communicate with his office.
Here at O.C. Tanner we truly recognize the great work and commitment it takes to be an Olympian. As the 2012 Olympic Games gear up in London, we continue to be inspired by the dedication and determination of every Olympic athlete in their quest for glory. It’s with great honor that since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, our teams have designed, created, and donated the Olympic team rings for every outstanding U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athlete. The following interview with Development Director, Sandra Christensen, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the love and care that goes into making these team rings and the true inspiration behind the Inspiration Award ”“ a gold commemorative ring created to honor the mentors who encourage and inspire these Olympic athletes to success.
