While many of us align success with a hard-working career, we’re more likely to associate celebration of success with our personal lives. And even if we’re able to congratulate each other on promotions and big sales, we’re less good at celebrating the smaller week-to-week wins that enable steady overall growth. We are so often caught up in work and meeting the next deadline that we forget to take time out and celebrate our success and the success of those around us. We set goals and expectations and then work hard to achieve them, but then move on like nothing special, or even nothing at all, has happened. We don't allow ourselves to acknowledge success because of the next targets we set almost straight away.
In addition, some business owners worry that if they celebrate small wins of their staff it will invite complacency or distract employees from upcoming goals. Others simply aren’t used to receiving praise themselves, and don’t associate celebration with ongoing success.
For the good of your business however, this needs to change; not only for your own sanity, but to keep you and your team motivated to continually achieve success. Your employees often work harder than you realize to achieve the goals you set them. Thus, they are often excited when hitting those targets, but this excitement is cut short by management focusing on the next task and not taking time out to appreciate what they have just done. Their wins are often forgotten and treated as just part of the job; and no, their salaries are not enough. It is this kind of attitude that demotivates your employees and is one of the easiest ways to kill any enthusiasm and drive for you vision.
Not only this, but one of the main reasons employees leave their jobs is that the don’t feel appreciated, yet only 65% of employees say they haven't received any form of recognition over the last year. So, to avoid this, make a point of celebrating all things; both big and small. It is often the cheapest and most efficient way to make happier, better, and more motivated employees. It's like morale coffee, giving your employees just the kick, they need to go forward and smash their next targets. The key takeaway for this is that recognition is about bringing out the best in people and ultimately improving your company’s bottom line.
Celebration is a cornerstone of social bonding: it’s one way we identify belonging to a group or culture. If you like the sound of loyal employees and strong work culture, it’s time to up your celebration game. You really only need to instill small things in your business culture to celebrate individual and group success. For example, numerous sales teams have a bell in their office that is rung (by the dealmaker) when any one of their employees makes a sale or closes a deal. This type of thing may seem small, but the effect on staff morale is massive as this is a form of public recognition and acknowledgement. You can also celebrate a situation well handled, not just concrete tasks or simply giving someone recognition for attempting something courageously, even if it didn’t lead to tangible outcomes
As a business owner, don't just keep this in the office, do the same in your personal life; work hard but reward yourself just as hard. Set a tough target but then reward yourself with a trip to Zanzibar when you achieve it. You deserve to celebrate yourself and your successes. You can't just work this hard to work even harder. Work hard to celebrate success.
“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” Margaret Cousins
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