As part of my work with nonprofit organizations to help them build a culture of resilience that I wrote about in the Happy Healthy Nonprofit, I have facilitated retreats where staff brainstorm ideas and identify simple ways that they can make working at their organization more enjoyable.
Two important aspects of a culture of resilience are friendship and feelings. Do people genuinely like each other? Do they feel appreciated? These are the conversations I’ve been facilitating at nonprofit staff retreats or training others to facilitate. The actionable ideas that emerge are not overly complex or expensive to implement.
“Celebrating Each Other To Create An Enjoyable Place to Work,” suggests that activities that recognize people in the workplace are part of a good workplace culture. The articles shares a few good examples:
- Avoid scarcity mentality when it comes to awards and recognitions. Make sure there are enough to go around.
- Get people in the mindset to celebrate each other by creating ‘cheers for peers’ opportunities, which enable colleagues to nominate anyone for recognition. One of my favorites is to have a standing brief item on your staff agenda for people to call out others for their hard work.
- Spontaneous celebrations or thank you notes can go a long way in creating a more positive culture at work versus a once a year thank you. Encourage staff to send a thank you with a cc: to their manager.
Not surprisingly, there are number of tools that allow your organization to automate saying thanks and recognizing people. Here are few:
- Kudobox.co – Easy way to thank online.
- Bonus.ly – “360 degree microbonuses”
- YouEarnedIt – Peer-to-Peer appreciation.
- Thanksbox.co – Encourages engagement by saying thank you
- Agiletoolbox.io – Helps employees to show their accomplishment to the world and feel appreciated by others.
Does your nonprofit have a ritual to celebrate each other work? Share it in the comments.
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