Our first WOW Day was a success, considering we were newbies when it came to practicing recognition. I wanted to give recognition to our employees, and I wanted the day to be uplifting. We honored a number of employees who all deserved their moment in the spotlight. I shared how our company is doing. All of this combined, I believe that I accomplished everything I set out to do with our first employee recognition event.
I took a minute to revisit what the day was like for me. Some moments of the day were hectic and exhausting. Other moments were uplifting, thrilling, and full of joy. The teeter-totter of emotions surprised me. I figured this was just a natural result of practicing a new skill that was yet to be refined: the skill of giving recognition.
Our next step was to create something to honor our new Value Champions all year long. We constructed a Wall of Fame in our main corridor, displaying images of our award winners. This way, the winners could “reign” until the next WOW Day.
We wrapped each image in paper and let the award winner unwrap their photo during an informal lunch celebration following WOW Day. Allowing each winner to “unwrap” their image on the Wall of Champions was unexpected and meaningful. Jamaican BBQ was our lunch theme. We wore beachy clothes and played reggae to make it light-hearted, festive, and fun.
This was our fi
rst time going through the motions of recognition at Crystal D. We felt “it” for the first time: the thrill of giving an award, the excitement of receiving an award, and the new identity that award winners held after being recognized.
Our leadership team gathered to discuss how the event and unveiling lunch had gone. We surmised it went well for our first time at bat. For the moment, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, this sense of relief didn’t last too long. There were some rumblings within my staff. There were some people not on board with all of these changes. And I had to figure out what to do about it.
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