We held a really great event last week at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester around the theme ‘Scoring big with recognition’. I loved it! I loved it because it was everything we had wanted it to be when we first started planning the event. We wanted it to be about real companies, real challenges and real people. The room to me seemed to be brimming with all of these things and that made and continues to make me smile!
Keep it Simple
I think it is very easy for all of us to get caught up with the buzz words, the best strategies for this, that and the other and feel as if we are forever striving for the next best thing. What really resonated for me with both Ryan Cheyne from Pets at Home and Sonia Belfield at Muller is that the best thing you can do is ‘keep things simple’. Ryan made the very true comment…’we never stop feeling proud when we get a medal or get recognized for something we’ve done but something happens once we become grown-ups and we don’t do this anymore’. Why? I think this is a critical question. We all want to feel part of something and we all need to know that we’re doing the right things and we’re on track. We’re quite simple creatures really (I definitely am!) Recognition allows you to say to people…
‘You’re doing ok’, in fact ‘you’re doing better than ok’, ‘keep doing what you’re doing’, ‘we value your contribution’, ‘you make a difference to this team’ and on and on and on! Here’s a footballing quote from David Beckham (he did make an appearance at the event in one of Ryan’s famous quizzes not in person unfortunately!)…
"It's not about the name on the back of the jersey, it's about the badge on the front", David Beckham
This analogy made a lot of sense to me! When a footballer scores a goal or does something great on the pitch, they get recognized for it and the contribution they have made to the success of the team and the club. ‘It’s about the badge on the front’ – they feel proud to represent their clubs just as our people feel proud to work for our companies. When we recognize an individual’s contribution to the success of the company and help them realize that their role is a critical component, then we instill even more pride and increase the engagement and great work that people do every day for our organisations.
“People may take a job for more money, but they often leave it for more recognition” Bob Nelson
Sonia used this quote in her presentation about recognition within Muller and never a truer word has been spoken. People go to work for more than just money – we all want to feel part of something bigger and to feel that we make a difference in our own unique way. It is an organization’s responsibility to create a culture that inspires and empowers people to do this – every day. Both Muller and Pets at Home talk about their journeys. This stuff doesn’t happen overnight and it takes time, effort, lots of convincing and fun along the way! This is what the event was all about – people listening, people learning, people communicating, people trusting and people trying!
Engagement = Great Work = Business Results
Our final presentation at the event was from David Sturt at OC Tanner talking about ‘Great Work’ and again this really reinforced the ‘people’ message even further. Whereas most research about success in the workplace studies personality traits, this book takes a completely different approach. It studied Great Work itself—under what conditions it happens, and what people are doing when they produce it. We found that virtually anyone, in any position, can innovate in the job they have. You don’t need to wait for the perfect job or the perfect project to come along. You can begin today. There are great work ideas only you will think of. And differences only you can make. David’s whole presentation was brought to life through an array of stories looking at real people in real organisations making a real difference every day! And there are things that we can all do and try today to start our own difference-making journey! Hugely powerful stuff and I loved watching everyone listen to David in the room; I can categorically say everyone was ‘leaning in’!
So as you can tell, I thought it was a fab event and I’m hoping that all who attended thought so too and as an aside, the Etihad Stadium is an amazing events venue especially the ‘Legends Lounge’ so reach out if you want to find out more!
I leave you with this parting message and bringing it back to the event and one very simple reminder that it’s all about…
People – it’s bringing it back to the fact that everything we do affects people and keeping things simple is the best way to engage and inspire the hearts and minds of people the world over!
