How publicly recognising team achievements boosts your culture

To state the obvious, a surefire way to improve productivity and employee engagement is the holy grail all companies are looking for. At a conceptual level, the need to improve productivity and engagement seems so simple, blatantly obvious and easily achievable. After all, as human beings we have been programmed to live and interact in tribes and look for ways to get things done easily and efficiently. So, what’s the issue then?

As the business world gets more complex and challenging, demands and expectations from our customers are rising at a faster pace than we can keep up. Moreover, the weight of the modern-day workplaces is only being pulled through by only a fraction of the workforce. Therefore, the high engagement and productivity combination is not so common as we would expect it to be.

The ugly cost of disengagement 

This is evident from the latest 2024 Gallup ( global authority on all things related to employee engagement) data. While only 23% of our workforce is engaged and another 15% is disenchanted and disgruntled. What’s alarming is that the fence-sitting, quietly quitting, disengaged group accounts for a whopping 62%.

It is like having a team of ten rowers on your boat, with two people rowing their heart out, six just sitting with their arms crossed adding dead weight, and one person rowing in the opposite direction. How fast do you reckon your boat can go? The impact of the fence-sitters on the global economy is a staggering US$ 8.8 trillion or 9% of the global GDP!

How do we move the needle? 

Having worked across multiple countries over the last 25 years, I know for a fact that the fence-sitting employees are only seemingly disengaged. While you might think that they only turn up in body, leaving their brains behind, I’ve found that they are waiting to be discovered and motivated. Involving the fence-sitters in initiatives led by the engaged few is often the neglected secret to boost productivity.

Recognising your workforce at different levels in the next key. Whether we take the classical framework of Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, the contemporary one of Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ or any other framework that explores human motivational theories, recognition stands out as one of the core components that drives us all – be it internal gratification or external validation.

Therefore, if we can leverage and practice more of our employees getting involved and then recognising at various levels for their achievements, this is the framework to unlocking both productivity and engagement.

3 ways we can recognise our workplace achievements:  

1. Individual level – give them something to be proud of. Recognise individuals for their personal contribution and efforts. Whether it is a certificate of appreciation, mentioning their achievements in newsletters or even placing a poster in the canteen helps individuals to feel that their efforts were noted and valued. Give them something to talk about that their contributions have made a difference amongst their peers, both at work and outside. This will enable them to finally tick off that fourth level of Maslow’s needs.
2. Team level – give them something to brag about. I’ve always believed in 10-12week team initiatives that neatly snugs into a business quarter. I’ve also believed in getting those teams to present at quarterly townhalls or any other appropriate forums. Publishing team accomplishments in newsletters, intranet site also help teams to be proud. Employees love to hear the success stories from their fellow colleagues, perhaps more than from a leader behind a lectern with PowerPoint slides.
3. Organisation level – give them something to be part of. If you consistently share progress and get teams to showcase their achievements, on a quarterly basis, your workplace culture will soon start to shift for the better. This would be the time for you to share a bigger picture, the purpose, your plan to take the overall site/company to an exciting destination. Make the workplace such that your employees would feel proud to bring their families and show-off what they do their loved ones.

This approach will help you to create a positive culture where employees feel encouraged to do more, grow more and be more. A rising tide will lift all boats. Recognition is the rising tide.

Written by Ishan Galapathy.

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