Page 102 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

73
The RESPECT Model: Building a Culture of Employee Engagement

5. Figure out how to create cross-departmental teams to
work together that day. Use this as an opportunity for
people who don’t normally spend time together to get to
know one another. This will create long-term, tangible
benefits for your organization in terms of improved
communication and partnering.
6. Record the event. Ask someone to videotape and take
pictures; get at least one shot of everyone involved in the
event. You will be able to use these images for multiple
purposes such as the company newsletter, marketing
materials, and year-end celebrations.
7. Get media attention. This is not about “Hey, look at us!
We’re such a great company.” It is about increasing the
pride of your employees. Imagine their sense of pride
when their friends see the story run in the local paper
and think, “Wow, that is so cool of your company; I wish
my company would do something like that.”
8. As always, the members of your organization’s leadership
team should serve as role models and demonstrate their
support for the project by being the first to show up
and the last to leave. Having the CEO show up just to
shake hands and have pictures taken is insulting and
demeaning to the project and efforts of your employees.

Be a Winner We all want to be on a winning team. Employees
want to take pride in knowing that their company is doing some-
thing better than its competitors. The actual arena of compe-
tition, whether technology, innovation, efficiency, customer
service, market share, profitability, or quality, is less important
than that they are “the best” at something. Find those areas in
which your organization excels relative to others and advertise
it to your employees to boost their sense of pride and respect.
Similarly, within an organization, employees want to know that