In a recent article by Stanford Business, Chip Heath discusses the importance of creating ‘defining moments’. Whether this be personally, for your customers, or your employees, these moments are the ones that bring meaning to our lives and provide fond memories that you will never forget.
They use the example of the Magic Castle Hotel in Los Angeles, where the hotel itself is nothing special compared to the surrounding 5-star luxury establishments, however, the hotel holds the fourth highest rating on TripAdvisor. Heath puts it down to a simple idea called the Popsicle Hotline. Visitors at the hotel’s pool can pick up a red phone on a poolside wall to hear, “Hello, Popsicle Hotline” where they can request an ice-pop in their favourite flavour. A few minutes later, an employee wearing white gloves delivers it on a silver platter, free of charge. It’s a small defining moment that doesn’t cost much to produce, but has paid off for the Magic Castle Hotel.
We believe any business is capable of creating these defining moments, not just for their customers but their employees too. In the article, Heath identifies four metatypical defining moments: elevation, insight, pride and connection. He explains that the problem with these defining moments, is that leaders and organisations often don’t recognise them and need to start looking for the transitions, peaks and pits in their employee experiences to take advantage of the opportunities they present.
For example, the first day of work is one of the most commonly undervalued and neglected opportunities even though it is a key transition period in somebody’s life. Most companies generally don’t have a great first day planned for their new employees and tends to be organised at the last minute. Putting in the effort to have a scheduled day filled of introductions, people showing them around and a welcome pack can really make a difference and make the employee feel welcomed and connected to the business and team.
Peaks are the more obvious opportunities to create defining moments and are often centred around elevation. But there also needs to be a focus on creating pride and gaining insights from your employees. Asking their opinion in meetings, including them in a project and simply showing recognition when they have done a good job will create such a defining moment in the employee’s mind and will improve employee engagement, employee retention and employee loyalty. It matters to people when you pay attention to them and moments that mean something.
Doing simple things like holding a BBQ and drinks after work, bringing in coffees for your employees or something as simple as saying “thank you” can make such a difference and create an impact on employees that they will look back on and remember.
“You don’t have to excel at everything. You only have to excel at a few things that are going to be memorable.” – Chip Heath
If you want more examples of how to recognise, reward and create memorable moments for your employees, contact us at any time.
To read the full article, visit https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/power-free-popsicle