By: Marlene Cosain
Having pride in what you do serves as an inspiration to do more, do better, to be better. It’s interesting to observe the new person in the office and realize that they are enthusiastic and extremely eager to learn and be up to pace with everyone. I’ve seen it where a coworker will lean over and then say, “Yeah. Just wait. 3 months from now you won’t be so excited.” Not only is that discouraging, but it comes from a deeper feeling of unhappiness. I believe that people stop working as hard because they lose sight of what they are working for. They get into a routine of doing the same thing day in and day out that they forget that their contribution is invaluable. Whether it be through getting reconnected with your company’s values or creating better communication, there are a couple of ways to build company pride
Company Values
Having a set of values that everyone can follow and stay true to is essential to businesses trying to establish company pride. Coming up with values that can guide decisions and sticking to them makes team members realize that every decision made is based off of the company’s values. For example, if your values align with providing exceptional quality products, your team members and clients know that you will turn away any products that are not up to your standards. It is said that if, “you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything,” so make sure your team knows that you stand firm in what you believe in.
Communication- Open Door Policies.
Letting your team know that they can count on you to listen to any of their worries, fears, questions or situations is vital because it instills trust. One of the best ways to do this is by having an open door policy. Open door policies can be extremely beneficial if everyone is trained to use it properly. Open door policies aren’t a way for employees to go around their managers and straight to the executives. The issue should be resolved at the closest level of leadership then work its way up, but your team should know that if need be they can have that open communication with you. It truly helps change someone’s mood towards the company when a team member knows that they can trust you, and that you will do your best to get to know all of the details of the situation and back them up if they’re right.
