By Brooke Salazar

Full disclosure: I love sports.

Give me college basketball, college football, tennis or soccer, and I am a happy woman. I grew up on sports teams, which absolutely informed how I respond to challenges and opportunities and how I interact with people today.

In my work life, I try not to use sports analogies. However, when I saw an article in The New York Times discussing how playing without an audience impacts soccer teams, I could not help but immediately draw parallels to business. I knew that it was analogous to an organization’s ability to thrive in the new normal.

Incentive means production
Essentially, players were negatively impacted without the incentive to perform in front of fans. Not only did they take less shots, but the shots they took were less likely to be successful. Also, the data revealed that home-field advantage is real. Home teams had a 43% chance of winning in front of a full stadium; that number dropped to 33% when the stadium was empty.

At least one player noted motivation to make that last burst in the final minutes was more elusive in the silence.

In the time of COVID-19, organizations that are innovative and take risks to adapt for their employees and customers will reap greater successes. COVID does not leave any space for “we have always done it this way,” which is why a study on less chances taken when not performing in front of an audience is disturbing.

I work with one client that shifted its entire business model in response to COVID-19 and now the company is thriving. The client’s transition was smooth, as it already had the capabilities to work remotely pre-coronavirus and an established recognition program for remote employees.

Applying to the workplace
As we adapt to the “new normal,” how do we maintain a culture of innovation and engagement? Let’s review the rules of innovation.

We need to recognize there will be failure and not every idea will be “the one.” However, when employees trust in their organizations that their ideas will be heard and acknowledged and they feel safe that their jobs will not be at risk if the idea fails, they will produce innovative ideas and solutions.

If we couple the soccer study with the rules of an innovative organization in the “new normal,” organizations and leaders must find a way to recognize hard work. Otherwise, employees will disengage. Effort and overall production of work will begin to wane. Organizations and leaders must learn and adapt to applauding workers in a thoughtful and personalized way.

How do we applaud employees to get them to push past being average during a pandemic where there are other stressors such as loss of family income, homeschooling and anxiety due to uncertainty?

Here are a couple ways:

  • Ask what type of recognition motivates them, which can be done through an organization-wide survey or asking individuals on your team. Some people respond to emails praising their work, some to phone calls and others to company-wide recognition. Often a simple phone call with a singular purpose, such as to thank the employee, is motivation enough. Some organizations are sending coffee gift cards or other sweet treats to the homes of employees.
  • Ensure your leaders are recognizing team members when extraordinary work is taking place. If you do not praise your high performers, a competitor’s recruiter will.
  • Thank you notes are hollow when not followed up with tangible action, like an extra day of PTO or vacation time. Depending on your business model, your employees may have worked longer hours during lockdown and are continuing to do so.

Before heading into your next busy season, ensure that leadership is granting employees a down (or restorative) period to better enable them to deal with the stress of an increase in work and production.

At the end of the day, if applause and recognition are what is needed to push employees to “take the shots” and make them when they do, provide the applause because your revenue is depending on it.

Brooke Salazar, JD, PHR is an HR consultant and associate counsel at Apex Benefits in Indianapolis.