Did you know you could be whelmed? Not overwhelmed or underwhelmed, just whelmed? I had no idea. But Merriam-Webster tells us that contemporary writers use the word to indicate that middle stage between under and over. I guess it’s more of a convention than an actual rule.
Why am I bringing this up? I was listening to a podcast about the book The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. The book focused on the impact of defining moments in our lives and how these moments can drive positive actions and reactions both in life and at work. I wrote about my initial thoughts on the book here.
In the podcast, they used the word “whelm” to describe how a planned-to-be-powerful moment at work can fall flat if you don’t think it through. The best moments don’t create themselves, but they should feel authentic and personal.
I’ve been thinking alot about this book because the leaders in my organization have been struggling with how to define and uplift the culture of our organization. It’s the first time we’ve ever really thought about how our organization is unique and what drives our employees every day. We think that the culture is embedded in our mission of serving neighbors in need and in our values of compassion, stewardship, integrity and excellence, but we’ve never deliberately articulated it or measured if we are actually living it.
As we work through what this all means, my team is working with the HR team in looking for ways to lift up and magnify the moments that define our culture. Hence, The Power of Moments for employees. The Heaths say that it’s easy to look for the easiest, cheapest, or most efficient way to create a moment. They call this the “soul sucking force of reasonableness.” Ouch. This is not the way to go because it often ends in whelm. The goal is to overwhelm, to create a connection, to surprise and delight.
How can we do that in our organization? I’ve been brainstorming. Here are my ideas (please remember I work for a nonprofit and we have no budget):
Moments of Transition:
- First Day: Set up every new employee’s desk with a branded pen, notepad, magnet, mug and handwritten note of welcome from the CEO that includes a call to action to live into our mission.
- Transfers: Create a “buddy program” to facilitate the transition process when employees move to different departments or programs.
- Retirement: Celebrate retirements with an afternoon “roast” and going-away party where team members can share stories of their experiences with the retiree and ask for advice.
Milestones:
- Anniversary: Create a branded anniversary card template to celebrate not only the year(s) served but also the impact that employee has made (persons served, projects completed, or money saved).
- Birthday: Offer PTO for all full time employees’ birthday.
Moments of Stretching:
- Stretch Assignments: After five years of service, every employee is given the option of doing a stretch assigment that is cross-functional and instructional.
- Transparent Client Feedback: We don’t always share feedback from clients and/or family members with direct caregivers, good and bad. We should plan a more deliberate strategy to share survey results and other feedback with appropriate teams for learning and development.
- Mentorship Program: Establish a program for employees who want to grow their management or clinical skills within the organization by pairing them with an appropriate leader in the organization to work together on projects, answer questions, and provide feedback.
Moments of Recognition:
- On the Spot Awards: Empower our managers to give out small impromptu awards when they see an employee exhibiting a behavior that exemplifies our culture. Sidenote: this one is already in the works!
- Annual “Dundee” Awards: Who doesn’t love “The Office”? It would be fun to set up a silly awards events at a local chain restaurant in which we give out trophies for culture-based categories like “Best Smile” or “Best Use of Grammar” or “Most Loved by Clients”.
- Framed Client Comments: When we receive positive feedback from clients or their families, frame the letter and present to an employee as a keepsake for their office.
I’m sure there are an infinite amount of ideas that we could try. The trick is finding the ones that will create a powerful moment for our 500+ employees. We are looking for ways to get our employees to FEEL our mission as well as LIVE into it every day. It’s important to their present work lives and to the future of our organization. I hope I’m on the right track.
