Paul Damico: How to take advantage of positive company news and success

When your company reaches its goals, receives awards or hits a milestone, what do you do? Do you share the news with the entire company, or just your executive team?

Celebrating wins is an easy way to align your entire team with your company goals, kick up your company culture and overall capitalize on the good news. 

Acknowledge the wins

Take the opportunity to give your team background on how the win came about. Take them on a journey through the process — from goal-setting, to the action plan, to the big win.

Moe’s Southwest Grill recently opened its 500th restaurant  — a milestone in our company’s history. It was a milestone we were proud to share with our customers, our franchise partners and the corporate support center.

In communicating this, I talked about what the company looked like five years ago when I joined, steps we have taken to set a solid foundation, and what we have done since then with our franchise partners to set us up for success as a growth brand. That’s a key piece as well — transition from the past to the present and give your team a peek into the future to get them excited about the next milestone. We’re already talking about what it’s going to take to get to our 1,000th restaurant and ways our team can help get us there. 

Include and recognize your team

Once you’ve communicated the good news, how do you celebrate it with your team? Bring everyone together so you’re not just telling, but showing, your team that their contributions are having a positive impact on the company.

It’s also a good opportunity to get the team together in a social environment outside of the office. Don’t let the cost get in the way — it will be paid back two-fold by having engaged employees and positive team morale.

I like to get the Moe’s team together fairly frequently as a thank you for all they do. They get to know each other on a personal level, which really contributes to the positive atmosphere and family-like culture we take pride in. 

Give mementos to commemorate the wins 

When we celebrated our 500th store, we gave the team plaques that say, “Thank you for being part of a team that rocks — Moe’s 500th Restaurant.” Over time, the mementos you award your team members become a visual timeline of their success and contributions to the organization.

They develop a sense of pride that they were there for those exciting times. It encourages them to continue their hard work so they can build on that collection. It becomes a depiction of their career and of the brand they helped to build.

Given the current state of the economy with companies failing and people getting laid off, it’s more important than ever to take advantage of positive company news, successes and wins by sharing them with the team, recognizing them for their contributions and giving them something to remind them daily that they’re part of something great. ● 

Paul Damico is president of Atlanta based Moe’s Southwest Grill, a fast-casual restaurant franchise with more than 500 locations nationwide. He has been a leader in the foodservice industry for more than 20 years with companies such as SSP America, FoodBrand LLC and Host Marriott. Damico can be reached at [email protected].

LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/17BvjFA
Twitter: @pdamico