Building a Culture of Recognition: The Temple Framework

A culture of recognition increases engagement, motivation, retention, and overall quality of work. However, polling indicates that only one in three employees can recall receiving praise or recognition in the last week. 

One key reason for this discrepancy is inconsistency. There’s no structure in place to support the ongoing growth and maintenance of the culture. 

HeyTaco has a solution: a temple framework. This is the blueprint for creating a culture of recognition that’s a natural feature of the environment, not another series of initiatives to enforce.

How to create a culture of recognition: Why use a temple framework?

Using a framework to build with intention is a reliable way to create a genuine, lasting culture of recognition. Random actions and rigid plans don’t feel authentic, so they don’t yield the benefits.

Behavioral norms and expectations among employees are also an important ingredient. Do they feel comfortable sharing feedback? Is it a common practice to praise and thank one another? If the answer to either of these questions is no, this is another area the framework helps address. 

Creating a culture of recognition in three stages

People who don’t feel like they receive recognition for their work are twice as likely to seek new employment in the next year. Here’s how to build a culture that keeps the best talent under one roof.

Phase I: The foundation of a culture of recognition

Phase I of construction sees us replacing an old, worn foundation with something more solid.

1. Prepare to lead by example

Everyone in a leadership role needs to agree on the benefits of a culture of recognition. Expressing gratitude and acknowledging good work of all sizes and scopes should be a regular practice. 

Check out Taco Economy 101 for more ideas and information.

2. Meet basic needs

Staff will never be content if their compensation and benefits aren’t commensurate with their job duties. No gesture of gratitude can replace fair wages.

3. Toss out toxic behaviors

Disrespect in any form can’t continue in a culture of recognition. Leaders and employees alike need to check their anger, sarcasm, belittling remarks, insensitive jokes, and general disregard for others at the company entrance.

4. Share company goals 

Why does your job matter? Everyone enjoys doing work that means something. Refresh and restate company goals so that employees can see how their work contributes. When they understand this, recognition and praise for their work feels earned and genuine.

Phase II: The three pillars

Now it’s structurally safe to build new systems that support a culture of recognition.

🏛️ Put gratitude front and center

Tools and formats for doling out recognition should be easy to access. The smaller and simpler the gesture, the more freely it can be given. Whether it’s virtual tacos or handwritten notes, it quickly becomes associated with the everyday recognition that defines your company’s culture.

🏛️ Create recognition rituals

Solidify and make consistent leadership’s foundational promise to prioritize gratitude. Every meeting, mass email, or memorandum can include some positive recognition.

🏛️ Offer rewards

Daily recognition stacks up, leading to sweet rewards. Personalized rewards are extra positive reinforcement for great performance, meeting goals, or celebrating milestones. Tailoring it to the employee’s needs or interests is more important than the cost.

Phase III: Roof maintenance

All of the planning and effort put into the foundation and pillars create a secure place for the roof. The roof is the resulting culture of recognition, providing shelter to the people and processes that support the underlying structure. 

As with any roof, periodic maintenance and repair are a must. Promptly patch any holes in the canopy of culture with updated policies, helpful reminders, and new channels through which you can acknowledge one another. 

How HeyTaco implements the framework

The foundation is specific to your organization in its current state. The roof is the result of what you build. The pillars in the middle are where we buckle down, commit to our goals, and flex our creativity. 

If you need a little inspiration (or a cheat sheet you can pull directly from), this is how HeyTaco handles its pillars.

🏛️ Put gratitude front and center

Our proud little 🌮 is how we dole out daily recognition. It’s simple, takes one second to deploy, and everyone knows what it means when it appears in the team chat. 

A successful debugging? 🌮. Share a hot tip for handling a tough project? 🌮. Help someone out with a presentation? 🌮.

It’s easy to implement in your company, no matter the industry. Check out how many different organizations have made big shifts in culture and engagement with HeyTaco.

🏛️ Create recognition rituals

HeyTaco has a series of structured, recognition-based habits team members don’t think twice about participating in.

• Weekly Taco Leaderboard: The leaderboard displays top-recognized teammates each week. Since peers pass out tacos to one another, the competition stays friendly. Everyone knows and appreciates why their teammate is in the lead.
• Taco Time Fridays: Every Friday, we drop team shout-outs and sweet notes of appreciation in a chat. No one goes a full week without getting the acknowledgment they deserve. 
• Core value tags: Taco Tags tie our taco emojis to the company’s core values. It makes recognition specific and relevant to our shared goals. 

These rituals can be incorporated into any team, so start weaving them into your own culture of recognition this week. 

🏛️ Offer rewards

Virtual tacos add up to real rewards, adding a little extra incentive to express the gratitude essential to a healthy culture of recognition.

Banking tons of tacos gives team members the opportunity to:

• Treat the whole team to coffee or lunch
• Donate to causes that matter to them
• Get gift cards for tangible goods or experiences they love

We have dozens of reward ideas for all individuals and teams at all price points. 

Creating a culture of recognition with HeyTaco

Consistency and ease of use are the backbone of our framework. When small gestures happen daily, it helps everyone feel seen, valued, essential to common goals. 

Does a cultural overhaul sound challenging? HeyTaco has built a simple, award-winning, fun, and cost-effective system. Try it for free and get on the fast track to a company culture that benefits everyone.