You Earned It – The System We Use to Build Camaraderie

Although it may not seem like it, bringing together a highly-motivated staff that works well together and builds each member up isn’t simply a matter of luck – it’s something you build over time by tapping into people’s motivations and reinforcing camaraderie. Remember, although money is a motivator, it’s not the only motivator, and it doesn’t bring your staff closer together. So how do you reinforce camaraderie in your office and continue to motivate everyone’s hard work? At Top Practices, we’re using a great system that our staff has truly come to love: You Earned It.

The You Earned It program is almost like a social network for your office that is devoted exclusively to praising and rewarding each person for a job well done. It involves an online profile that each staff member can log into throughout the day, but unlike Facebook or Twitter, it isn’t public. Only the staff people in your office whom you signed up are able to see any of the profiles or information posted to the program.

Every staff person is given an allowance of points at set times throughout the year. Each person is then encouraged to award those points—along with a message of praise—to their coworkers when they do something well or go above and beyond the call of duty.

The praise message is then posted to an online wall where everyone else on staff is able to see it and comment on it, or add a few extra points of their own by offering a virtual “high five.” That way not only does a staff member receive praise, but everyone in the office gets to hear about the great job they did.

The points a staff member receives from their coworkers can then be redeemed for prizes later that you, the boss, list out on the rewards section of You Earned It. These prizes could range from gift cards to an office donut day to choosing the office music for a week to anything else you can think of. Your staff “spends” their accrued points to get those prizes.

The public praise and the chance to earn something brings your staff together and motivates them to do their best. It encourages them all to look for the best in each other and reward that, rather than nitpicking and bickering. So far, our Top Practices’ team has loved it and the opportunities it has given all of us to shower each other with praise for a job well done. Too often people feel like their hard work goes unnoticed at their job. This encourages people to go out of their way to be kind to each other and not just notice, but reward a job well done.