1001 Ways to Celebrate and Improve Your Bottom-Line

Two recent events reminded me of the importance of celebrating. One involved a friend whose Army son was promoted from Captain to Major. My friend beamed as he described the ceremony in great detail. He talked about how his son’s commanding officer, with great eloquence and without notes, described his son’s character and recited his accomplishments. The military knows how to celebrate and bestow honor to important events.

The other event involved a friend and college professor. He described a situation where one of his sophomore students had confided he would not be returning the next semester due to financial reasons. Unbeknownst to the student, the professor had already nominated him for a full-ride scholarship plus stipend. The professor grinned as he described the phone call to the student’s mother and father inviting them to the surprise ceremony where their son would be awarded the scholarship. What a joyous celebration it was and tears of joy flowed freely.

Sincere recognition and celebration is the right thing to do in all organizations – including military, academic, family and business life. In business, they are powerful events for engaging employees and improving the bottom line. There is statistical evidence linking effective recognition and performance.

A caution - recognition and celebration events must be genuine and reflect your organization’s true culture. If perceived as insincere and phony, they will have the opposite effect, feeding negativity and cynicism.

An excellent resource is Bob Nelson’s book “1001 Ways to Reward Employees”. Many “ways” are no or low cost. What powerful “ways” for improving your bottom-line!