Recognition and celebration
By Tommy Brown

Make the work environment fun, rewarding and celebratory.

Finding or retaining team members can be difficult for many attraction retailers, but it shouldn’t be. When viewing one’s team, ensure positive drivers are in place. The leader creates the environment — whether it be good or bad, they set the tone for the team. Make your work environment fun, rewarding and celebratory!


As the leader of your location, always recognize the person first, then the job tasks. We should never take humanity out of the workplace.



Recognize your team members

In the morning always greet each member of the team — ask how they are doing and find out how you may help them, if help is needed. Say “thank you” to everyone at the end of each shift.


A little appreciation goes a long way after a hard day of work. Always celebrate team members’ birthdays, as this recognition shows you care about them as individuals and not just their job performance. Also, be flexible and understand that their personal lives matter. Make their schedule two to three weeks in advance and allow them to take time off and trade shifts. A flexible workplace is a happy workplace.


"In the morning always greet each member of the team — ask how they are doing and find out how you may help them, if help is needed."



Set store goals and celebrate victories

Team members must know and understand what they are working toward. Always celebrate when goals are reached or exceeded. Post the goals in your location so they are seen daily in the store. Also, assign personal goals to your team members and add these to their yearly review form.


Review forms should contain goals and expectations. They should be reviewed quarterly, as a year-end review should not contain any surprises. Fairness in reviews, recognition and pay should always be top of mind when presenting these to your team members.



Peer recognition programs

The leader should not be the only one seeing positive behaviors within a team. Give the team a program where they can officially recognize one another. Again, recognitions should be celebrated! Sometimes you will be amazed at what your team does when you are not watching them.



Provide positive recognition

Reinforce your store’s standards with positive recognition. For example, if you have a tardiness issue within your team, create a program that rewards team members for not being late. If a team member has not been late for three months, give them a half day off with pay.


Lastly, give your guests a voice to recognize your team members. Have comment cards available and encourage guests to recognize your team members. A guest compliment can be the best recognition. After all, they are the reason we have jobs in retail.

Tommy Brown been in retail management for over 30 years. He has worked for Dillard’s, Sears, and Six Flags Inc. and is currently with the Saint Louis Zoo. He is a past ZAG vice president and can be reached at tbrown@stlzoo.org.