Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JUNE 2015 54 Libby Wagner Culture Coach Libby Wagner, author of The Influencing Option: The Art of Building a Profit Culture in Business, works with clients to help them create and sustain Profit Cultures. www.libbywagner.com RO T hough we often associate ritual with a religious or sacred ceremony, we find ritual everywhere, from sports to family gatherings to your morning coffee habits. A ritual is something we do in a prescribed manner to honor something important to us. Rituals can fulfill the following purposes: • They remind and connect us to something important. • They arrest our attention and focus for a period of time. • They honor the larger context in which we inhabit. Can your business benefit from reviving or creating ritual? In the larger context of an organizational culture, ritual can help people not only be connected to the organization or business and each other, but also to connect themselves more deeply with their work, all of which has the potential for greater engagement and satisfaction. Here are four examples of rituals that can enhance and strengthen your business: • Morning Rituals - One of my favorite poems is "Why I Wake Early," by Mary Oliver. I love the powerful last line, "watch, now, how I start the day - in happiness, in kindness." I think it's very important for everyone, especially leaders, to imagine that each day is a do-over, an opportunity to begin anew. A morning ritual can help. One President began each day with 30 minutes of unscheduled time on his calendar. It was sacred, thinking time for him to set the tone for the day. Another leader takes time with her morning tea to jot down her "top three" important elements to accomplish during that workday, no matter when. Another leader has an hour commute on her morning, so she takes time to listen to books on tape, implementing at least one concept or idea sometime during the day. I like to begin my day with some inspiring reading, writing in my journal and some meditation. You know that the demands of the day—customers, emails, calls, meetings—are just on the other side of this morning ritual, so why not arrive revived, refreshed and focused for your best level of engagement? 30 minutes is a realistic and reasonable timeframe to set aside for a morning ritual. What could you begin to help you focus and set the tone? • Beginnings and Endings Rituals - Many organizations have ways that they "onboard" or "exit" employees, including orientation training or an exit interview, but there are other ritual opportunities for beginnings and endings that help honor these markings of time. One company, whose CEO travels most of the time, holds quarterly "lunch with the CEO" for all new employees. It's an informal but high-impact ritual for new people to meet her, to have conversation and to feel connected to the mission of the organization through her. Many organizations might have "retirement parties" for those valued employees who are leaving. I like the idea of having a legacy ritual—for those team members who are nearing transition or retirement, take some time to identify the legacy they want to leave, such as a revitalized program, new process or other benchmark of their contributions over time. Honor them and allow the ritual to show how significant one person's work actually is. • Recognition and Reward Rituals - Some companies have regular rituals around recognition and reward, i.e. years of service, promotions, etc. but too many organizations don't take time to create any ritual around recognition and reward. I encourage my leaders to get creative about this: one company allowed any employee to recognize a colleague demonstrating their core values (like respect, authenticity, quality), by sharing stories in a company- wide meeting and presenting them with a Values Award. Some companies have graduation ceremonies for those completing specific training and development programs. The important thing is always to be authentic and sincere in your recognition ritual. Create something replicable, too. • Annual Rituals - Many organizations have parties or annual events, but how can you creatively celebrate your team's longevity, success, resilience or growth in a new, creative ritual? Sharing stories of the mission of the organization, how the team has fulfilled some important goal or milestone, can be a powerful ritual that connects people to the work of the company as a whole. Now is a great time to enhance and strengthen your company culture, and your own leadership, by selecting and practicing a new ritual! REVIVING RITUAL IN YOUR BUSINESS

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