Reconnecting to and Reimagining Recognition and Celebration

A couple of months ago, I wrote about a gathering of leaders from throughout our organization at our BW Papersystems facility in Phillips, Wisconsin (USA).

As I said in the post, the purpose and central question of this gathering was: How do we create a consistent practice of recognizing the goodness in our people and say “thank you” in timely and appropriate ways? 

If everybody wants to know that who they are and what they do matters, how do we show them and not just make it routine, but make it special?

In my last blog post, I wrote about what the phrases “recognition” and “celebration” mean at Barry-Wehmiller. We make it a priority to look for the goodness in our people (recognition) and hold it up for others to see and say, “Thank you for sharing your goodness” (celebration).

Recognition programs have been a pivotal part of our journey of Truly Human Leadership. Here are a few blog posts and a podcast from the past that document that history and give examples of their importance to our team members:

Driven to Celebrate

The Power of Thanks

The “I’s” Have It!

Podcast: Recognition and Celebration

Many companies establish recognition programs to get more out of their people. We’re different in that regard. It’s about recognizing the good in our people. If you simply use recognition as another management tactic, you’ll never experience its true value: knowing that you’ve touched the life of another person.

When you watch the video above, you’ll see and hear some Barry-Wehmiller leaders who participated in the summit in Phillips to discuss the importance of recognition. They’ll also talk about why it was important that – in the spirit of continuous improvement –we should reevaluate these important programs to make sure they still have the same impact as before, and how we can do even better.

Leaders, is it time to reevaluate what recognition means in your organization? Do your people know, regardless of their role, that who they are and what they do matters?

It’s time to make sure you’re showing them that they do.