What raises your sense of pride in the workplace?

This week, I remembered something that I really had begun to take for granted. It was a simple thing, I was ordering some new merchandise for Peopletopia – as well as designing some new information leaflets reading to go on our stand at our next CIPD show. We were as excited as children at Christmas to go through the designs and the proofs – why? Because we felt such an enormous sense of pride in our business and our brand. We look back over our almost seven years and we are really proud of everything we’ve achieved.

It brought back the sense of excitement that we had when we first set up.

I remember some years ago that I went to work for a high-profile company. Our advertising was fun, light hearted and memorable, and we looked like a fantastic organisation to work for. I would over hear team members talking to their friends, proudly mentioning our company name when talking about who they worked for. Fast forward just a couple of months…the company had received some bad press, employees were having to deal with customer complaints and the initial excitement had died down. Hearing those same employees talking about who they worked for, they would mention our industry, but there was unlikely to be any mention of the company name. That initial sense of pride in our brand had fallen away so quickly, because as a management team, we hadn’t realised it was happening.

It is so important to find ways for your employees to take pride in what they do, the values of your business and the business itself. Your employees can have a massive impact as advocates (or not) of your organisation and the goods and services that it has to offer.

Start by reminding yourself of why you do what you do – why did you choose that company and that role in particular.

Help your team members to do the same. And most of all, show them that you are proud to do what you do and that you are proud of everything your team achieves.