Satay Party

Parties celebrating successes can be as simple as a satay party

In 1999, I returned to Malaysia and was part of a team tasked to turn around an organisation that was unproductive and had significant issues and challenges. Within two years, we succeeded in growing the business by five times with the same workforce. The business grew to become one of the most respected organisations in the world in its industry and many best practices came from this organisation. Many have asked me how we managed this turnaround and in fact, a number of organisations in Malaysia have modelled their transformation around us.

I learnt this from Jack Welch. He was always writing notes to employees and many of my early bosses used to write little notes to thank me. Writing notes beats getting crappy email messages. And you can store them to re-read when you are feeling down. In fact, a few years ago, I was walking around the office and noticed that many employees had actually pinned my note to their desk or walls. This inspired me to keep writing these notes.

If your team or team member has achieved something amazing, advertise it. Talk about it. In fact, a number of organisations have leveraged myStarjob.com to publicise their high achievers in the newspaper. People love to see their photographs and achievements talked about, especially in a company newsletter or the national newspaper. Public recognition will not only bring the best out of the honoured team or individuals, it will cause others to crave similar attention and work harder to ensure they are honoured next.

A number of years ago, whilst I was filming a case study on a Malaysian organisation, I noticed a peculiar ritual they practised. Each time a call centre rep closed a sale, the team would get up and burst a balloon. It was amazing seeing how excited people were jumping up from their seats and getting ready to burst a balloon. For this organisation, this celebration ritual helped each person celebrate each time he or she closed a sale. What are some celebration rituals that you have in your organisation?

Many people think it is crazy but I have actually done this and it has worked. Sometimes, to celebrate, we would recreate the Olympic games award presentation ceremony (and even play the national anthem of a country) and honour specific people with real medals and trophies. Most of them gasp and I always get an earful from my finance manager but people love things that they can keep. Instead of a medal, give them something meaningful which they can keep and look back on. Medals and trophies work great as they are visual and people feel great keeping them on their desk.

5. Throw a surprise party

Don’t wait for the company annual dinner. Be ready to throw a surprise party whenever a goal is met. Sometimes, it’s going down to get some ice-cream to celebrate or maybe it’s a quick call to the pizza guys to get some nice, tasty pizza into the office. Whatever it is, make sure your team knows that this “surprise” is in honour of them and the work they have done.

At Leaderonomics, every year, if we achieve strong results, we show gratitude by having the staff and their family celebrate together. It may cost a bomb but having the whole team with their loved ones celebrating together has an amazing bonding effect on the team. Last year we took them to Club Med and next year, the goal is for the team to have fun in Brazil (note: We do inform our team that these trips are subject to us meeting impossible goals – which they duly make possible somehow each year).

Having parties are great but not something everyone enjoys. Be different. Sometimes, take the team out for a movie. Maybe have a quick lunch celebration instead of a massive dinner event. Or a simple acknowledgement at the staff meeting may suffice. Keep varying your celebrations and keep people guessing what’s in store next.