Strategic Employee Recognition: by Derek Irvine

Recognise This: Commitment to your company culture cannot rise and fall with economy.

During the recession, many companies took harsh actions they likely had no choice but to do. But many others took similar actions out of fear or even greed.

Those who were able to stay the course, however, are now working from a much stronger economic position today. For example, Panera Bread’s Executive Chairman and Founder Ronald Shaich explained their approach:

    “We've continued to invest in labor in our cafés and the quality of our people. We've invested in the quality of the food. When everybody pulled back and we did more, the difference between us and our competitors went up. And we've been taking market share. We had near double-digit [same-store sales] for over a year now. The stock has tripled in the recession.”

Recognise This: People want more than just a pay range when they’re looking for a new position.

I know what you’re thinking. Pay is the first thing people want to know in reading a job description. That may be true, but how many job descriptions actually include pay or even a pay range? Very few, especially for professional positions.

Sure, they want to know job title and description, but those are so similar across companies there is little differentiation for seekers. (And keep in mind 2/3 of those currently employed are actively seeking a new job today.)

So what do they want to see when seeking a new company? According to CareerEdge:

“Gen-Yers want to understand the corporate culture.”

Recognise This: It’s possible to proactively manage a company culture with a little directed effort.

Once you’ve created a company culture, how do you manage it?

As we explain in Winning with a Culture of Recognition:

“Culture management is the direction of behavioural choices based on values. It is a clear communication, training, and reward system, and recognition is one of its tools. In fact, culture management is implicit in every organisation. The relevant question is, will culture management be deliberate, measurable, and globally directed toward shared, transparent values? Or will it be haphazard, unmeasured, and individually directed toward vague or hidden agendas?”

There’s three key elements to managing your culture implicit in the above:

Recognise This: A culture reflects a process that has become a habit.

Now that we understand what a company culture is, how do you do it?

Patty Azzarello in TLNT offered this tip:

    “Say thank you. Creating a culture of recognition is a very powerful thing. Make sure you have ways of knowing when good things happen, and personally thank people. Make recognition and appreciation a process and a habit.”

You need both.

Process: A system that both makes giving recognition easy and ensures that it happens. This process could be formal or informal, but it must become as much a part of “the way things are done around here” as product development or customer service.

Recognise This: Your company culture is a reflection of the behaviours you tolerate.

What exactly is culture, especially in the business context? Can an organisation really have a culture? The answer, unequivocally, is: “Yes!”

Understanding your culture and, more importantly, knowing how to proactively manage it is an entirely different discussion.

Carolyn Taylor, author of Walking the Talk, explained culture and its importance in the workplace this way:

    “Culture is the patterns of behaviour that are encouraged or discouraged over time. These behaviours will either facilitate business performance, or they will hinder it. They will either be aligned to values that will build your brand and reputation, or they will not.”

Carolyn’s take on culture reinforces my own and Eric Mosley’s in our book Winning with a Culture of Recognition: