Emotional investment is normally a stigma you want to avoid in the workplace. But Raphael Crawford-Marks, founder of Bonusly, single handedly reversed this perception. We caught up with the startup aficionado himself at the Disrupt HR conference, where he further explained the importance of emotional investment by discussing trends found in great teams.
Ultimate Team Trends:
A great team cares.
– They care about their work.
– They care about their teammates.
– They care about their self-improvement.
The underlying denominator is a strong sense of emotional investment. When people are invested in their job, it reflects in their work.
According to Crawford-Marks:
“To be emotionally invested in someone means you care deeply about their well-being, you’ll make sacrifices on their behalf, and you’re vulnerable to being hurt by them,” he said. “You also take pride in seeing them succeed, and experience joy and satisfaction from spending time and sharing experiences with them.”
Employees become emotionally invested in a constellation of people and ideas at work. They invest more time and energy into their work if they feel more appreciated for their efforts.
“46% of employees would feel more appreciated if their boss gave them an unexpected treat, like snacks, , dinners or thank you notes, while 24% would enjoy a company-sponsored social event, such as a holiday party.”
Crawford-Marks gave 4 suggestions to improve your company’s emotional investment:
1. Be transparent
– Info is shared with all employees.
– Through ownership, we derive a sense of purpose.
– Use effective recognition
2. Use effective recognition
-Employees form special bonds when recognition is:
– Specific
– Timely
– Frequent
3. Host frequent meetings
– Weekly one on ones with your employees.
– Have a dual focus on being helpful in your employee’s current project and for their projected career.
– Own the mantra: ‘How can we better serve you?’
4. Move beyond the happy hour
– At larger size company, you can foster the creation of clubs and group activities organized around different interests.
– You could have game nights, book clubs, LGBT clubs, women in tech groups, running or bicycling groups, etc.
– At a smaller company provide company lunches once a week to chat with your team about progress and ideas for the future.
By creating these groups, you show appreciation for your team and their work. Celebrating diversity is key in creating an inclusive and accepting culture in the workplace. Keeping your team emotionally invested keeps them engaged.
For more information, check out Raphael Crawford-Marks’ talk at Disrupt HR:
