Today across all Icon Group sites globally we are celebrating Be Iconic Day for the first ever time. Be Iconic Day is a celebration of Icon Group’s most valuable asset, our people.
I’ve written many times previously about the important role a values driven culture has always played for Stuart and I, and it’s a focus shared by the entire leadership team at Icon Group. Last year we introduced our Reward and Recognition boards, and more than twelve months later it’s been truly incredible to see how warmly they have been embraced by team members across the globe.
Every month the boards are full of sticky notes, where team members have taken the time to recognise their colleagues for living the Icon values of Energy, Innovate, Connect, On-Purpose and Nurture, and we celebrate our monthly Site Stars.
Last week I was at the Commonwealth Bank Women in Focus conference, where Eliane Miles gave a great presentation on global and local trends. One of the things she spoke about was the increasing presence of Generation Z in the workforce, and the seismic shift that GenY and GenZ were creating in workplace expectations.
One of the comments she made that really resonated with me was that we needed to realise that the priorities identified in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which have long played a role in shaping people management strategies, are now being completely turned on their head. Delivering an environment which enables a purpose driven sense of self is now far more important than long term tenure and job security, and employers need to be resetting their own thinking accordingly.
How do you do this? Eliane’s advice was that strong workplace culture, which includes continual celebration and recognition of achievements to deliver the dopamine hits that are brains are now conditioned to desire, is absolutely key.
I’m sure that one of the reasons our culture at Icon Group is so strong is because recognising and celebrating our colleagues is so deeply embedded in our DNA. If recognition is left to be the responsibility of only managers and leaders, their personal capacity provides a natural cap on the amount that can be delivered. If everyone has the opportunity to celebrate and recognise their colleagues though, not only within their own teams, but across the group, there is literally no limit on the number of those dopamine hits that can be delivered!
Our overflowing recognition boards are testament to this, and today it’s been an absolute delight to see all of our teams across every site in the world celebrate our truly Iconic people and their commitment to each other and our Iconic values.
