Pete BoyleThe fire is on and I am hugging a huge mug of hot chocolate, not just any hot chocolate – its covered topping of marshmallows is to die for!
Anyway…enough about that, I was reminiscing over valentine’s day, a day where we take the opportunity to show those close to us how much we love them. Some may think this day is a total waste of time and money and in my husband’s words ‘I tell you every day I love you, why would I need one dedicated day to show this’! The shops were filled with gimmick gifts and the prices of flowers shot through the roof, a real opportunity for our retailers to boost sales. My thoughts quickly turned to organisations, and how they can win the hearts of their people.
Confused? Read on and I will explain…
The people within organisations are the heartbeat of any business, but do we always support and look after our people? It’s easy to focus on driving a business forward and ‘business as usual’ tasks, but supporting your people on this journey is key to your overall success.
Engaged employees not only feel good about where they work and what they do, but also exceed performance expectations. If people are happy at work, they are much more likely to enjoy what they do. I speak from experience when I say this, in my former profession I worked for a recruitment consultancy and every month we had a cold calling day, which is not the most pleasant task of the job but had to be done. To create a fun atmosphere to boost our energy and excitement for promoting the brand and boosting our sales target, the office would have a theme – ‘Hawaii’ was one that really sticks in my head! We all wore grass skirts, flowers around our necks and drank orange juice with umbrella’s in our glasses, it really was a dell boy moment! Every time we made a sale a small prize was given out, this was only a small token but the whole event put a smile on our faces. The culture of the organisation allowed for such ideas to work, but if you could see the difference it made to our team, you would understand why the leadership team promoted the activities – and more importantly the difference it made to our numbers was incredible! If only the phone had eyes!
As a manager, it’s vital that you show your appreciation for a job well done, so your team know you value their contributions, a simply thank you is all it takes. We are really quick to say when things are not going so well, so why don’t we celebrate when we have something good to say? Your people are your biggest asset, you need to invest in them! Developing their skills so they can coach and support the next generation in your organisation is a short term investment for a long term reward.
So to hark back to my husband’s quote – we don’t need one day to win the heart of a loved one, or people within our organisation. It’s not very often I admit when my husband is right, but on this occasion I have to agree! Let’s make a pact from this day forward that we will win the hearts of our people and show them every day how much we really appreciate them – let us know how you get on, we would love to hear your stories.