Build a mental trophy cabinet for your professional wins

As part of our annual appraisals, I have been talking to my junior team about their objectives, their performance over the past year and, most importantly, how that is viewed by others.

Secret Marketer

This week I am also the proud recipient of a beautifully painted head office. I’ve always believed that the best way for your people to understand the essence of your brand is to see it all around them, and know that you are serious about it. When I joined my current company, the head office looked like a cross between an airport departure lounge and a hospital – it was white and clinical. While it was spotlessly clean and felt professional, given our corporate colours are a bold primary colour, the place lacked energy and appeared somewhat soulless.

Today it is very different – the walls are painted in our own Pantone shade and on them are adorned key statements about our brand. We have a new plasma wall, with videos of our brand in action permanently on loop (sound off). The elevators are adorned with our latest advertising posters, which change every month. We even have a corner with our products on permanent display.

This may all sound run-of-the-mill for many brand managers, but it is a major innovation for us. Overnight I’ve detected a sprightly step in the attitudes of our employees – they are pumping their chests out and walking tall – proud to work for our brand.

Which takes me back to my team appraisals. I have been saying to them that they need to have a ‘virtual’ trophy cabinet in their heads – where they can mentally display something they have achieved this week, this month and this year. It’s a way to reflect back on what they have done in a tangible and meaningful way. Not only does it provide daily motivation for making progress but it also gives them a ‘library’ to call upon when it comes to their next appraisal.

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