Recognition is not just about rewards; it’s about creating a culture of appreciation that inspires and empowers employees to excel – Simon Sinek
We are less than a week away for Christmas. Snow has covered the ground here up north in Québec, Canada. It is looking like we may have a white Christmas which is not always the case lately. To be honest, I am not a big fan of winter and my wife and I will probably turn into snowbirds later on in our lives. But a Christmas without snow would be weird. The holiday spirit gave an idea for this blog post. An initiative I did for several of my teams to recognize the hard work of the troops before the holiday break: Christmas Cards.
This idea came to me a few days prior to Christmas in 2017 when I was a production supervisor on a night shift. I’m not sure if I read about it but I thought it would be a good way to thank my team members for all the hard work they did since I took over the position.
They would be happy to receive it so this is all I needed to jump in.
Sidenotes: I love to write and I am pretty good at it (made my mom cry often with my wish cards over the years 😭) so this task was fun for me. Also, this was the same year as the Christmas Dessert done with the entire team discussed in a previous article which was a great success and much appreciated by the employees.
Who should receive these cards?
I had about 60 employees under my supervision so I decided to focus on my leadership core.
- The other supervisor that worked with me
- The two teams leaders
- My line leaders
- My mechanics
- My tech ops
- The changeover guy
I knew it would be a success because of my compass: I would have loved to receive such a recognition so I knew it would work.
Then, a cloud of doubt appeared:
What would the men on my team say?
Will they find the initiative stupid and girly?
Will I lose their respect?
One other thing, I decided to do this out of the blue, at home, between shifts so I did not mention it to my colleague supervisor.
Will she be upset?
Will she judge me because I did not tell and she will have nothing for her team?
No better time than now
Most regrets we have in life are caused by our habit of listening to our doubts and reasons why we should not do this or that. It is scary to try something new but I hate to do the same thing as everybody else. I like to be creative and innovative with my management style.
So I decided to do it.
A few hours later, all the cards (about 20) were written.
I structured them all the same way.
- In French or English depending of the mother tongue of the employee
- ¾ of a page of text per card
- a Christmas picture atop
- 3 paragraphs per card
- First paragraph was for holiday wishes using the knowledge I had of the person’s family and situation
- Second paragraph was things I liked about the person and what I was thankful for
- Third paragraph was areas we could work together the following year to help the person grow and increase his or her impact on the success of the team.
I used the DMS (Daily Management System) meeting at the beginning of the shift to give my cards.
The employees were surprised but seemed pleased to receive these attentions.
No men looked at me like I was crazy to have given them these cards.
Such a relief…
The reactions
One… two minutes went by and then I started to see the reactions
. They were all happy.
One of my employees cried.
Woooo…
She told me I was the first boss she had that took the time to wish her a Merry Christmas.
What? Hold your horse, I said. The first ever?
This gave me mixed emotions
On one hand, I was proud that my card impacted her and that she was thankful for the gesture.
On the other hand, I was sad for her that nobody before me took a minute to wish her a Merry Christmas.
I agree that writing cards is not for everybody and it takes quite a few minutes to write them. However, wishing somebody Merry Christmas takes about 2 seconds.
Are managers too busy to take 2 seconds to give their best wishes to their employees for the holidays?
Such an easy act shows them you care. When we talk about quick wins to improve engagement and happiness within your team, these kinds of gestures are at the top of the list with greeting your employees when you see them for the first time every day.
What about the men?
Were they happy to receive my cards?
Boy, were they…
All of them thank me for the cards and the kind words within it. I think they were particularly impressed by the fact that I gave a card to the new guy that was just starting with us. I think he was one week in. In the small-time period he was on the team, I was able to use the knowledge I had of his family, I identified a few things he was really good at and elements to work on for the next year.
I like to get to know my employees so this is natural to me. I just found a medium (the Christmas cards) to better connect with them.
The only cost for me… it was time.
So it all comes down to a choice of how to use your time. I decided to invest a few hours of my personal time at home to show my appreciation to my team members. Deep down, I knew it was the right thing to do and I was hoping for the reaction and outcome it had on my team.
This gesture combined with the Christmas Dessert created a good vibe within the team. I saw a more engaged and motivated team upon our return from the holiday break.
Find your way to show appreciation
I was texting today with one of my employees from that team and she mentioned that she still has this card in her souvenir.
She is the one that took over my position when I left to be the manager of the warehouse. When her first Christmas as the manager came around, one of the employees, who received my card, asked her for another one. She insisted so much that my successor did write one only for her.
When she told me that she wrote it so the employee would leave her alone, I told her that she should not have done it this way. If she did not want to do it, she did not have to do it. But an explanation would have been necessary to explain why she wouldn’t do it.
Her way of showing her appreciation was that she learned Happy New Year in every language spoken by the employees. Knowing the situation, there were a lot of different languages.
That was impressive and it made them laugh because she struggled a little bit. It showed humanity and that she cared, that all that matters. She connected with them.
The cards were my way and the greetings hers. As long as the employees feel appreciated at the end of the day, it becomes a great win for everybody.
There are multiple ways managers and leaders can show their appreciation to their teams. The most important thing is that it feels genuine and true. A generic gesture is better than nothing but if you can find a way to personalize it, the impact will be so much greater.
For sure, if you have a few hundred or thousand employees under you, this is a gigantic task. If this is the case, I would suggest doing it for a certain circle of your closest contributors and promote it down the chain. This will create a culture of appreciation which will bring your company to new heights.
Discover the 5 Must-Ask Questions for Happy Teams
Do you want to better understand what motivates your team members and could help you create a happy team? My practical guide, 5 Must-Ask Questions for Happy Teams, is designed to provide you with simple and effective tools to:
- Create a climate of trust within your team
- Identify the true needs and aspirations of your employees
- Encourage meaningful conversations that foster collaboration
- Boost engagement and collective performance
- Anticipate and resolve challenges before they become obstacles
Carl-Michael Tessier
Coach in high-performance team development and tailor-made support
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