Since 2016, HeyTaco has helped drive employee recognition for teams of all shapes and sizes. Giving tacos makes peer-to-peer recognition approachable, friendly, and fun.
Giving is a core part of HeyTaco's mission, and we know that's different from the norm. It's typically easy to see the people who are strategists and builders in a company. They are often out front, leading and spreading the company vision. But there’s a group that's just as valuable, the givers. These people give experienced advice, a moment of time, and a push in the right direction, often in one-on-one conversations.
We agree with the pros at ERC who believe in creating a culture of giving, saying, "People who rise to the highest levels tend to add the most value to others and advance everyone's interests. Likewise, givers share credit, connections, and knowledge; and as a result, they are more admired and respected and more likely to achieve their goals."
Imagine every person in your team having qualities of sharing knowledge and giving credit that allows them to achieve higher goals. Your company will shine as a standout organization. Your team will be mentally and emotionally healthier. And you can continue to give the spotlight to them, knowing they will shine it right back.
New York Times best-selling author Adam Grant, and research by Nathan P. Podsakoff have found that companies with a culture of giving are more likely to have higher productivity, efficiency, customer satisfaction, and reduced costs.
In addition, successful givers cause a ripple effect that enhances the success of people around them. Once people start doing nice things for others, they don't stop. Studies show kindness can be contagious. When someone receives an act of kindness, they'll pay it forward, which creates a habit of appreciation. Great Place to Work says, "Recognition is absolutely essential in a great workplace, and it doesn't need to be complicated or expensive."
Even though many givers are found in small conversations and off-the-cuff dialogue, they influence the entire organization with their generosity. The receiver benefits from the sharing, and the giver benefits from the simple act of giving.
One of the easiest ways to approach the desire for a giving workplace is to set up systems. Put into place a few day-to-day actions that will highlight giving in your organization. ERC recommends designing mechanisms to give and reward givers, promoting givers, and hiring people with giver qualities.
Begin cultivating a giving-minded culture by focusing more on your givers. If you're a HeyTaco customer, you can enable Giver Mode. This equips you with a simple and fun system of recognition. Only the taco-giving leaderboard is visible to your team when Giver Mode is enabled. Rather than rewarding those who have received the most tacos, you can focus on those who have given the most.
It's easy to make this switch in your settings. Once enabled, both the tacos received and the tacos combined leaderboards will be disabled. And your team can focus on celebrating the giving of tacos.
When you foster a culture of kindness, giving, and thankfulness, you increase retention and help people feel more appreciated. And when you use HeyTaco as a simple system to highlight giving, you show that kindness and generosity are part of your company daily.
If you decide HeyTaco is the right way to establish a giving culture on your team, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial of HeyTaco today. After signing up, you can personalize your taco leaderboard. We are here to help you create stronger, happier, more engaged teams. No matter what that looks like for you.
Note: Giver Mode is currently only available for HeyTaco for Slack.